


Kill The DJ

by leosorrel



Category: Zedd - Fandom, anton zaslavski - Fandom, liam payne - Fandom
Genre: Animal Sacrifice, Cult, Dismemberment, Gangs, Human Sacrifice, Insane Characters, Kidnapping, M/M, Morrigan - Freeform, NaNoWriMo 2017, explicit violence, liam being a bit of an indiana jones but like a mafiozi, stupid bedroom floor references that nobody asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-01 08:52:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 27,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12701523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leosorrel/pseuds/leosorrel
Summary: Liam is a member of Ben Winston's gang. Being a killer is his day job. Of course, not many know that,and neither does his boyfriend Anton. When Anton gets kidnapped in front of Liam's eyes, all the skeletons pour out of their closets.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta Turt for fixing my grammar and making me write!

Rain was pouring down on Liam’s head. He dragged the plastic bag along with him into the forest, only the flashlight on his phone illuminating the way through the bushes. In his other hand, thrown over his shoulder, was a shovel. He stumbled over a fallen tree, the bag making a ripping noise. He cursed while glancing back at it, but thankfully its contents were still inside. He lifted it over the fallen tree and stopped, wiping off the raindrops from his face.

Liam looked around. The small moss field in front of him looked like it had recently been dug up, pieces of moss thrown all around. Wild boars, probably. He was satisfied with how deep in the forest he was, so he let go of the bag and started digging the fresh ground.

Thunder clapped and lightning struck somewhere far, far away, and the rain got stronger. His shirt was soaked, he could hear his blood rush in his ears, his chest was heavy and his hands were strained by the repeated movement of digging. He lifted out a shovel of earth once, twice, thrice--  
Until he hit something solid.

He kneeled down and moved his headlight to get a closer look. It was wood. A wooden plank, to be exact. He tapped it a few times.  
The thing that happened next made his blood freeze in his veins. A muffled scream came from the box. The shovel fell out of his hands as he stared at the wooden plank for several seconds, the screams continuing.

There was someone under it/ Someone alive.  
Liam grabbed the shovel and frantically resumed digging, throwing ground left and right, hurrying as fast as he could. There was a person there, under those wooden planks. Inside the wooden box, that he had uncovered in a matter of minute. The yelling was clearer, yet quieter, and whoever was inside was banging against the lid, trying to break it. The sides of the box were nailed shut.

“Help!” The voice inside yelled out, desperate.  
Unable to break the sides of the box open, Liam lifted up his shovel, aimed at where he thought the feet were and slammed the shovel against the wood.  
Please break, please break, was the only thought that was rushing through his mind.  
Nothing was working until he noticed a small crack, going vertically down one the planks that made up the lid. He aimed for it--

The plank broke, the shovel went lower and hit something softer, drawing out a pained scream from the box. He pulled out the shovel - the end was coated in blood.  
He used the shovel as a lever to break the other boards, and one by one they broke open, with the exclusion of the side boards.  
He grabbed the arm of whoever was laying there and pulled them up, flashing the light in their face.  
And he couldn’t believe it.

The person standing in front of him couldn’t believe it.  
Liam kissed the dirt covered lips, which were gasping for air, he kissed them with all his passion as a wave of relief washed over him.  
His missing boyfriend, Anton.  
He had found him.


	2. 1

He walked away from the forest clearing. He did not want to witness, did not want to see how they hunted their latest victim like it was a game animal. It was inhumane, hunting people down as they were nothing more than deer, with crossbows and laughter and beer.  
But who was he to say it was inhumane, when he had chopped up bodies and fed them to dogs?  
Their latest victim was some old bastard who annoyed and talked shit about everyone, and the leader of Liam’s gang had had enough of him. So they kidnapped him in the middle of the night, brought him to the forest, camped and waited for daylight while the man struggled in the trunk of their pickup. Now he was being chased through an enclosed area deep inside the forest.

  
He could hear guns going off. They were shooting empty bullets in the air as usual, to scare their ‘prey’ even more. They would tire him out until he would be begging them to stop, to leave him alone, until he couldn’t breathe anymore. And then they would drag him by the ears, tie him to a tree next to a bonfire that was waiting for them. And then…Blood, steel and fire.

  
Liam had witnessed it once, and he had a great distaste for it. He preferred to just do the job in one take, hacking up the body with an axe and disposing of it. But the leader of his gang, Ben, was bloodthirsty and twisted. This was his forest, his playground.

  
He took out a cig and lighter from his back pocket and started walking back towards the campsite. Toying with the cigarette, he broke it in half by accident. With a sigh he put the broken one back in his pocket - no littering - and pulled out another one.

  
Flicking the lighter flint a few times, he produced a flame, and, covering the cig with one hand to shelter it from the wind, he finally lit it.   
There was nobody else by the pick-up truck and tents but their newest associate and Liam’s friend, Niall, who always wore a newsboy cap and brought a guitar to their ‘outings’. This time he had had the honor of ‘releasing the prey into the wild’ and signaling the beginning of the hunt, but he was not allowed to participate in it just yet. Now he was sitting by the extinguished bonfire, strumming his guitar.

  
“Not hunting?” Niall asked, looking up. Liam just exhaled a cloud of smoke and shook his head.

“Don’t you think this is a bit...too much?” Niall continued, strumming his guitar a few times. “The whole hunting and torture thing, I mean. We could’a just chopped him the fuck up and left him to the foxes.”

“Ben isn’t exactly...sane, you know. But you didn’t hear that from me.”

“No shit, Sherlock, no sane person would do this kind of shit.”

“I mean…” Liam flicked the ash off of his cig. “Everyone knows it, but you wouldn’t tell a bloodthirsty maniac that they’re insane to their face, would you now? Pretty sure you’d get one of his knives right to your genitals in a second.”

“Are you exaggerating or-”

“I’ve seen it.”

“Oh.” Niall said sheepishly.

Liam took a long drag of the cigarette, letting the smoke slowly set in. It was almost a kind of meditation for him, one that warded away the thoughts of ‘I’m a terrible human being’ and let him focus on what was his job, what was his reality.

 

The hard truth was - he was a killer. A cold blooded murderer, an assassin, if you wanted to be more sophisticated about it. And a damn good one at that. Not even once had police been up his ass about anything, not even a parking ticket. He led a quiet style of life and had a boyfriend, who was a DJ and thought Liam’s day job was a warehouse supervisor. Technically, it wasn’t a lie, since all their murder supplies (bleach, gasoline, weapons) were kept in a warehouse he was in charge of. In the evenings he would go to his boyfriend’s performances and help hype up the crowd, singing a few covers here and there.

But he’d been a killer since he was 16 and it all had started with being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He remembered it like it was yesterday. And Niall had prodded him about the topic many times.

“Niall.”

“Yeah?”

“You really still want to know how I got into this?”

“Sure. Here’s a chair.” Niall said, excitement gleaming in his yes as he pulled a camping chair near to him. Liam sat down and let the memories engulf him.

 

_Late December. He was walking down the narrow alleyway in the west of town, between the power plant and a warehouse. He was late from band practice since he and his bandmates had gone out for a beer behind the school garages. Stumbling through the streets in a less-than-sober state he had made a wrong turn and now he didn’t know where he was._

_Now he was in this small alleyway. It was dark and moldy and he couldn’t see a light at the end of it, but he kept walking. It would lead him somewhere, wouldn’t it?_

_He kept his hand on the right side wall, feeling the wet brick change into a metallic surface, that quickly flung open, hitting him in the head. He yelped out in pain, collapsing on the ground, all colors of the rainbow flashing by his eyes._

_“Let me go! Help!” A male voice yelled out next to him, as someone tried to scramble up from their knees, the light from the doorway illuminating their blood covered face. They received a kick to the stomach, making them curl up in a ball._

_“What…” Liam muttered._

_“Help me, please, I beg you, stop!” The man pleaded, looking in Liam’s direction._

_“Who are you talking to?” A tall, dark man asked, emerging from behind the door and looking around. He had a gun in his hands and now it was pointed at Liam._

_“You. Get up.” He said, waving the gun at Liam, who slowly and quietly got up, hands raised in the level of his head._

_“Take this gun.” The man said, forcing a pistol in Liam’s hand._

_“It has one bullet in it. Shoot him.”_

_Liam froze. He was just told to murder a random person in the most nonchalant way, like the man had known him for ages._

_The man sighed at Liam’s hesitation._

_“Here is the obligatory ‘If you don’t do it, I’ll shoot you.’”_

_Liam nodded. To be honest, he had always wondered how it would feel to kill a human. Now he was presented with a chance. Just aim and pull the trigger, Liam. You know you want to. Your life is at stake here._

_“Can I do it point blank?”_

_“Have you ever even shot a gun?”_

_“No.”_

_“Alright. Just don’t shoot my foot.”_

_“Please, please no, I’ll pay you, I’ll pay you both!” The man on the ground pleaded, as the armed man put a foot on his chest, pressing him to the ground._

_“Oh, cut your bullshit, Jake. If you’d have paid us and kept your mouth shut, you wouldn’t be here in the first place.”_

_“Please, I need more time, I-”_

_“We gave you a year. Stop his yapping already.”_

_Liam pressed the cold metal to the man’s head, who was trying to lean away._

_“Stay. Still!” Liam muttered, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he stepped on the laying man’s throat. The armed man nodded in agreement, as Liam took a deep breath and pulled the trigger._

_His hand was thrown back and hot liquid splattered on his hand. The man was silent. He stood up and gave the gun back to the man, who grabbed the now shaking Liam by the shoulder and dragged him inside the warehouse._

 

“And that’s how I ended up here.” Liam finished, throwing the end of his cigarette into the extinguished bonfire as Niall looked at him.

“Woah. That’s...metal. I thought you went up the ranks from being a delivery boy like me.”

“No. Me, a delivery boy? Can you imagine that?”

They both laughed. Delivery was the least prestigious work they could get in their gang, and delivery boys were supposed to bring beer and condoms and prostitutes to the upper ranks. Truth be told, the prostitutes were a rare thing, because Ben Winston, or Leader, despised sex workers and found them to be scum of the earth. He preferred his gang members to have stable partners, or at least sleep with respectable people. His tentacles loomed in every aspect of their lives.

 

An hour passed and a crowd emerged from the forest, carrying guns, shovels, crossbows and a can of gasoline. The tallest man was the same man Liam had seen on that fateful day - Ben - who was laughing while looking at the bloodstained butcher’s knife in his hand.

“It has been done. Pack up. We return home.”

 

Liam sat back in his chair. He didn’t have to pack up. That was Niall’s job. He took out another smoke and lit it, closing his eyes and filtering out the chatter of men and women, who were washing their weapons with water from large buckets and cleaning their guns on the tables. Someone walked up to him and Liam opened his eyes.

Ben was staring down at him.

“I didn’t see you in the hunt. Are you not enjoying this anymore? Are you not entertained?”

A cold wave washed over Liam. He was on thin ice, whatever he said next.

“I just…” he drawled, “think it’s a bit excessive. I know he was an asshole, but wouldn’t our time and effort be more valuable somewhere else rather than in these hunts? Plus, if information ever leaks about this and someone finds all of us here at once, it wouldn’t be good. But I’m not discouraging you, it’s your forest and your choice.”

“You’ve begun to doubt me? What has gotten into you, Liam?”


	3. 2

“Come on now, hands up!” Liam said into the microphone, energetically dashing around the small stage, working up the crowd, exclaiming phrases to the beat of the song playing in the background.

He looked over his shoulder to the DJ booth, where his boyfriend, Anton, was manning the sound system. The evening had just started, and Liam was doing his usual job of keeping the crowd entertained while Anton did his final check-ups.

Liam loved the stage. The energy, the hype, the feeling of adrenaline, the sparks in the air - he felt like he was born to do this. The stage was a getaway from the troubles of his daily life.

“Alright, Liam,” his boyfriend’s voice booming through the speakers as the music got quieter.

“Ey…” Liam drawled, “Zedd.”

“Let’s get this tropical evening started with one of your jams.” 

Liam shot Anton a smile. Anton had discovered Liam’s talent for singing and affinity for music by accident, once while he was singing in the shower of their shared apartment, and now one of the rooms in their apartment was a small studio. Liam didn’t think he could become a star or anything big, due to his more than questionable occupation and history, but he still loved to sit back and work on music while he wasn’t cutting throats and hacking up bodies.

“Yeah, let’s do Bedroom Floor.”

Familiar music started playing from the speakers and he took a deep breath before turning back to the crowd. For the next three minutes, it was his time to shine.

And he absolutely killed it. The crowd went wild, and the party was off to a great start. The stage lights faded, and Liam ran back to Anton to sneak in a short kiss, before the lasers lit up the place.

While Anton was doing his job, Liam headed to the bar to have a drink or two until his boyfriend needed his help once again. He had a reserved spot for him at the bar counter, but this time, someone was sitting in his place. A woman, somewhere in her twenties, blonde hair, red lips, a strange aura around her. Enticing, yet something about her repulsed him. And not just because he was gay. No, sometimes there are people that you just don’t like. 

“I told you that seat is reserved,” the bartender, James, told the woman, who just laughed. Liam stood besides them.

“Oh, don’t be silly. Nobody would kick a lady out of her seat.” She said in an amused tone. Liam coughed and stared her down. Sure, it was impolite from his side, but he didn’t like her, and people he didn’t like often ended up 6-feet-underground. Not because he would kill everyone who upset him even in the slightest manner, no. It just happened.

“Excuse me, miss, but you’re in a reserved seat.” Liam said calmly.

“Oh, and who would you be?” She said, turning to him and giving him a  disdainful look.

“Wait, let me guess, you’re a bouncer. Wait, no, you were just on the stage. A performer?”

“What’s it to you?”

“A lot. I’m looking to talk to the DJ and it would be nice if someone could grab him for me.”

“What do you want from him?”

“I’ve got a business offer for him.”

“That’s what emails are for.” Liam said, waving at the bartender to make him a drink. A business deal? That could go great for Anton, and if she was from the industry, it would explain her attitude. She was an obvious snob, but probably pretty wealthy.  

“Oh, but why email when you can give a man a lifetime offer right to his face? To see their face light up when they’ve realised they’ve hit jackpot? No, no, I must talk to him. And you will help me.”

“Who says that?”

“I do.” She leaned in closer, the scent of patchouli hitting Liam’s nose. It caused him to gag, which he tried to hide under a coughing fit. “I saw you kiss him. And I heard girls around complain that you, Liam, had a girlfriend. Oh, how would they be disappointed if they knew the truth that you’ve so obviously been hiding?” 

Liam’s whole body tensed. Not even Niall, his best mate, knew that he was gay. Everyone thought that Liam had a long distance girlfriend, and he just shared a flat with Anton for the rent. Living together with someone to keep a low profile, to say. He didn’t know how people around him would react to him being gay. 

You would think - what does a guy like him, a merciless assassin have to fear? Societal pressure can ruin even the most fearless of men. Plus, Anton wasn’t ready to get out of the closet either, so they had agreed to keep it under wraps. 

“Fine. Not a word about what you saw.” He grunted through his teeth, drinking a shot of whiskey, which ran down his chin. He wiped it off with one jacket sleeve and then pushed both the sleeves up.

“You’ll have to wait until his set is over. That’s not for another two hours.”

“Oh, I have all evening.”

 

They didn’t speak for the next two hours. Liam kept taking shots, and by 22:00, when Anton’s set ended, he was already on his way to being pretty inebriated. He got up from his seat, grabbed the woman’s shoulder, causing her to shriek ‘What the hell!’ and dragged her to the back door.

“What’s your name?”

“T-Taylor!”

“Hey Anton!” he called out to his boyfriend, who didn’t hear him over the crowd. They proceeded to push their way through the crowd, to the backdoor. Anton was already out in the hallway behind the club. And he wasn’t alone.

A car was blocking the only entrance of the alleyway. Three men were standing by it, one near the open trunk, two leaning against the front of the car. Anton stood there, looking at them. They stared back at him.

“What the hell is going on?” Liam asked Anton, who didn’t respond. Liam could hear Taylor’s high heels quickly click against the pavement, as she stood in front of Liam and Anton and pulled something out of her pocket. She took a few steps back, standing in the streetlight and Liam noticed a gun.

“Taylor.” Anton breathed out.

“What the fuck.” Liam muttered.

“Time to pay up, Anton.” Taylor said menacingly, cocking the gun at him while the two men by the car walked up to her into the light, their faces covered, wearing black, the only identifiable feature on their clothes being a yellow sword.

“I told you, I need more time!” Anton said, starting to tremble.

“You told us that months ago. We gave you time. You didn’t deliver. One way or another, you are going to pay. Be it with money or your life.”

“You’re insane. You aren’t really going to kill me.”

“Anton, what the fuck is going on-”

“Shut up, Liam.” Anton uttered, slowly raising up his hands.

“Look, all I have in my bank account is a thousand. I haven’t been able to get any new deals and I don’t have enough to move to the big city in searches of more. And the website didn’t pick up traffic like I hoped it would, I really just need a bit more time and luck.”

“We invested in you,” Taylor sighed, ”We invested so much...Oh, Harold will be so disappointed to see your face.” 

“Please. I can fix this.”

Liam stood there, intoxicated, confused and growing even more angry by the second. This rat of a human was standing in front of him, pointing a gun at his boyfriend, threatening to kill him over god knows what, and Anton wasn’t explaining to Liam either? Adrenaline grew in his veins and the booze clouded his mind, so he didn’t think much before he lunged forward, attempting to grab Taylor’s hand and get the gun out.

Instead, it went off, and Liam felt a sharp pain in his left hip joint. He couldn’t move his leg anymore and he fell to the ground, clutching his side. The two men rushed forward and grabbed Anton, who kept yelling out Liam’s name in between begging and screaming ‘No!’ and ‘Help!’.

Liam crawled onto his knees and attempted to get up, but Taylor went up to him and stepped on his hand with her heels, causing him to lose balance once more. Above his head he could hear the roll and the click of a revolver’s barrel and the sound he currently loathed the most - her voice.

“One more move, and I’ll blast your brains clear out, Liam. You won’t see your boyfriend ever again, and I would advise you learn to live with that. “ She pressed her heel into the top of Liam’s hand, causing him to yelp.

“Oh, and one more thing. No cops, no nothing. Or your boyfriend might get it worse than it was planned.”

“Who are you?” Liam muttered.

“The new owners of this town.” She said, taking her foot off Liam’s hand, hitting him on the side of his head with the handle of the gun, splitting his temple open, and walked away.

He had to lay on the ground and watch as his boyfriend was punched in the face repeatedly until he went limp, then have a bag put on his head and his hands tied, before being stuffed into the trunk of the car.

And then Liam passed out. Bleeding out in the alley way, next to his boyfriend’s laptop bag, being engulfed in darkness, as the streetlight above started flickering before going out completely. The early autumn sun was setting quickly and rain clouds were gathering up. If someone didn’t find him, this would be his last night on Earth. A pathetic end for a prolific murderer. 

The backdoor of the club opened up as James stepped out of it backwards, dragging along a garbage bag. He nearly fell over upon spotting Liam’s unconscious body.

 


	4. 3

“Liam, where have you been?” Niall asked, opening the door to the warehouse. Liam limped up to him to shake his hand. 

“You didn’t attend the last meeting. I heard that Ben was furious.”

Liam nodded. Ben was known to spark up quite easily. But it wasn’t the first or last time that he would get upset about minor things. It wasn’t like he had missed some kind of grand plan for exterminating the local police forces or any other grand plan, was it?

“Got shot. Hospital for a couple days.” Liam said, pulling a cigarette out of the pack and lighting it.

“What the fuck…” Niall began, but Liam limped past him, inside the warehouse, heading right to the office section, to Ben’s layer. He knocked on the door and listened. No sound came from the other side of the door. He knocked again. And again, until a male voice called from the other side for him to come in.

He opened the door and was met with concrete walls painted blood red, bright red lamps and black leather furniture. In the depth of the room was a dark desk with a tall leather chair, and a man was sitting it, glaring at Liam from the darkness of the room. 

“So, you finally showed up.” The man said. His voice was smooth, yet cold.

“Yes. I have some concerns. And… I need help.” 

“Help?” Ben asked, leaning forward in his chair, pressing his hands against the top of the desk.

“My…”

“You haven’t provided any news about your whereabouts for the last few days. You know, for months I had thought of making you my right hand man, but now you do this?” 

Liam took a drag from his cigarette,closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.

“I was shot. .22 caliber revolver. In the hip. Got stitches.”

“Oh, really? What was it? Bar fight?” Ben asked, though obviously bored by Liam’s explanation.

“They kidnapped someone I know.” Liam said. You didn’t just ask Ben for help. No, no, the gang leader loved drama and all things sensational. So you had to play the cards right, something that Liam had learned to do over the years. First rule of thumb in this gang - keep your mouth shut. Second rule - put up a show. 

“And here is what I’m concerned about.” Liam continued, walking towards the desk and extinguishing his smoke on the ashtray that was laying on the side of the table. “I think we have concurrence in this town.”

“Oh?” Ben breathed out after a few moments.

“They had yellow swords on their jackets. Someone on their upper ends is called Harold.” 

“Did you see this...Harold?”

“No, but his henchwoman, Taylor, shot me. She seemed vile and-”

“Oh, Liam, Liam, everyone in our industry is vile. Everyone in any industry is vile anyways. The things you do are vile too, so why use these terms?” Ben said, shaking his head and theatrically sighing.

“There was something more than the aura of a killer around her.”

“I know what you mean. A femme fatale, no? Did she wrap you around your finger?” 

“Not exactly.”

“How boring.” Ben yawned, turning away in his chair, looking at the computer screen that wasn’t even turned on.

“I was drunk. She took advantage of that.” 

“Poor, poor Liam. Any girl can come and twist your head around?” The leader said, mockingly. 

Liam was starting to get pissed off with Ben. His theatrics were exhausting for the simple man that Payne was. If he was straightforward, Liam would already be in a car, looking for Anton with the gang right behind him, but no, he had to pander to the leader’s every whim.

“Benjamin,” Liam started, causing the man he was talking to turn to him and watch him with a glint of interest and amusement.

“Liam James?”

“I need help. They kidnapped my friend. Why, I’m not sure. Plus, this is in your interests, if they attempt to step in our turf. As little as I know, I do know that they press money out of people, and that means loss of profit for us.”

“Okay, okay, fine. We’ve wiped this town clean a long time ago. I was getting bored. A gang war… Oh, the blood and the fire that will consume the streets... Oh, yes. Leave me now and return tonight for the meeting. We have important things to discuss, your case included.”

  
  


Liam stepped out of the dark office, returning to the kingdom of wooden and cardboard boxes hiding weapons and different illegal substances. A few gang members, including Niall, were sitting at a table playing cards, one of them smoking a cigar and drinking scotch. Liam walked over to the group, turning heads. One of them, Charlie, was standing a bit away from everyone, chewing on a toothpick.

“I’ve got a job for you.” He said in no one in particular, stopping the card game.

“What’s it gonna be?” The cigar smoking one asked, puffing a smoke ring into Niall’s face, who started coughing and waving his hands.

“Need info.” Liam said, pulling out his wallet.

“I’m not taking this. No fun in playing sitting ducks.” 

“I’m already on a task.” Said another, as a third man shook his head. The only woman at the table just pointed at the boxes that were stacked in the middle of the free warehouse space. A new shipment.

 

“Charlie?” Liam asked, as he stopped chewing on the toothpick and stared right into Liam’s eyes. After a moment he beckoned for Liam to come closer, which he did. They walked a bit aside from the group, behind some containers.

“Did you really get shot?” Charlie asked, playing with the toothpick.

Liam pulled up his shirt, revealing an edge of his bandages. The younger man nodded.

“So, what do you need?”

“Black jackets. Yellow swords. Money. Someone named Harold. A vile chick named Taylor.”

“That’s enough.”

Liam pulled out a couple of bills out of his wallet and offered them to Charlie, who pushed his hand away.

“You owe the Bloodhound a favor, that’s all.” And with that, Charlie walked away, pulling the hood of his jacket over his head.

 

Evening came quick and everyone began to leave the warehouse to go to the forest that Benjamin owned, a half an hour drive from the town. All their meetings happened there, except for the very urgent ones. Liam got in the backseat of their black van, and looked out the window. A pang of fear shot in his heart, as his thoughts wandered to his boyfriend. Was he even alive anymore?

The group that had been playing cards poured in the van and Niall sat next to him, pulling Liam away from his thoughts.

“I heard something big is happening tonight. I don’t know what, but it’s going to be insane.”

“Who told you that?”

“Well, you know how one person says something to another, the next adds on a bit more, and word travels quickly... I, for one, can’t wait to see what it is. I also hope to be granted audience with the Leader, I wanted to give him a few suggestions-”

“On what?”

“Well, I’ve been seeing all kinds of strange little trinkets in the sealed boxes-”

Swiftly, Liam put a hand on Niall’s mouth and leaned to his ear, whispering sharply.

“If he finds out that you opened the sealed boxes, he’s going to have you castrated and hung outside the gates.”

Niall squeaked, blue eyes looking at Liam in terror. He knew Liam wasn’t exaggerating. 

The van started and Liam took his hand off Niall’s mouth. The rest of the way they spent in silence, Niall not even contributing to the general chatter and bragging about the latest kills.

They arrived at the forest clubhouse at sunset. As soon as Liam stepped out of the car, he had noticed that a lot had changed. The clubhouse gates had red flags with a black raven hoisted on them. The general aura was like it was Halloween, but one month too early and in the wrong country.

“What the fuck.”

“Oh, rebranding? Didn’t know we were getting all fancy and clan-like.” Niall commented, but Liam didn’t pay any attention to him. Sometimes he spoke too much.

 

They walked into the house, which was decked out in  red lights as well. The meeting room now had something of an altar in the center of it, with chairs set in a crescent around it. On the altar there was a glass bowl and Benjamin was standing behind it, calling for everyone to come and sit down. The lights were dimmed, and a fog machine was working. Liam couldn’t help but think that Benjamin had went completely mad. The giant flag on the wall only helped to solidify his doubt.. They were in for a wild night, indeed.

“Come. Come, sit down. I have big news for you.” Benjamin said in a charming, yet ominous tone, sliding his fingertips over the edge of the glass bowl.

“First, I will tell you all about this,” he motioned to the altar in front of him. “Then we will honor one of our members. Tonight I am making one of you, the most efficient and trusted one of you, my right hand. And afterwards, we will feast. But not until you all sit down, so get a move on. Please.” He monologued, smiling grimly at the crowd in front of him.

Liam sighed. He will need a drink or two after these theatrics.

“Now, let’s begin.” Benjamin started as the lights dimmed on the room.

“From this day forth we shall become a clan. A clan of the great Morrigan. The goddess of war and death. I ask you all to join me in making a blood oath.” 

_ What the fuck. _

“And if you don’t… you might end up as a sacrifice.” Benjamin’s laugh boomed over the deadly silent room. Nobody knew what to say. Nobody knew where this was going. 

_ What the fuck. _

_ What. The. Everloving. Fuck. _


	5. 4

“We will no more be just a group of assassins and thieves, no better than dirt on the forest floor. We will be god worshippers now. We will be the children of Morrigan.” Benjamin said, lifting a knife that had been laying on the altar. “We will honor the great goddess of war with our deeds, we will bring her glory and make her known in every corner in this town. “

“For a long time I’ve thought that we lack a meaning. Sure, we get wealth from this,” he continued, motioning to the clubhouse around him, “and we rid the world of quite a few garbage individuals. But we are nothing but criminals to the rest of the world. We aren’t feared. We aren’t feared enough.”

Liam sat there quietly. No one made a sound as they watched Ben ramble on about the history of the Celtic goddess and about his plans. Much of what he said didn’t make any actual sense, but Liam had a really bad feeling in his gut about this. Sure, he was used to catering to Ben’s strange wishes, but this was going beyond the lines of sanity. A cult? In this day? Perhaps a mental hospital was Ben’s real home.

“And now I ask you...Who would like to be the first to swear their allegiance to the Great Morrigan?”

“I do!” A voice exclaimed right next to Liam, making him flinch. It was Niall. Foolish Niall, who followed every order like Ben himself was a god. 

“Come forth. What was your name?”

“Niall.”

“Ah, a true Irishman. You seem eager to honor your roots.”

“Y-yes.” Niall stuttered.

“Put your hand above the bowl. Your right hand, palm open.”

Niall complied. Ben lifted up the knife, placed the blade diagonally over Niall’s open hand.

“Grab the blade.”

Niall hesitated. Ben started staring him down, until the young man did as he was told. With one swift motion, Ben pulled the knife out of Niall’s grasp, causing the other man to yelp in pain. Ben grabbed Niall’s clenched fist and pried his fingers open, revealing a large gash that was bleeding profusely. He grabbed a dark feather and dragged it over the wound, before throwing it into the bowl and turning Niall’s palm toward it, making the blood flow into it.

“With this you are now a child of Morrigan. Carry her name and her sigil proudly. Dedicate your deeds to the Queen, and you will be rewarded greatly.”

Niall nodded, trying to get his hand out of Ben’s grip, who didn’t let go, a wicked smile on his lips and eyes sparkling with madness.

“Tonight every single one of you will go through this. And those who will refuse...  We will curse you, and you will fall in shame. And that’s only if you don’t end up as a blood sacrifice.”

Quiet murmur washed over the dark room, discomfort and anxiety in the air. This was the beginning of the end.

“We will conduct individual oaths later. But now, we honor one of our members. My new right hand.”

Niall was still standing there, waiting to be dismissed, but Ben didn’t seem to even remember his existence, so Liam waved Niall to get away. The younger man didn’t have to be told twice. Cradling his wounded right hand in the palm of his left, he hurried to the direction of the clubhouse’s kitchen.

“Liam James Payne. Get up.”

Liam sighed and got up. He really didn’t want to do this, but it wasn’t the best idea to provoke a madman, especially when you were depending on him for help. He’d been playing Ben’s game for years, and though it was tiring, he had to do it. For Anton, at least.

He stood up and Ben walked to the back of the room, opening the back door.

“Come, all of you. Liam, stand next to me. We will be carrying out a sacrifice.”

Liam’s blood froze. Will Ben make him rip someone’s heart out in front of everyone? Everything felt like a feverish nightmare, and he began to break out in a cold sweat. Yet he did as he was told, walking out into the cold night air. Ben stood on the porch, lighting a torch and handing it to Liam. Then he motioned in the direction of a flickering light somewhere in the forest and walked forward, Liam tagging along beside him. The rest of the gang followed, quietly muttering but nobody speaking up. 

They walked to the forest clearing. It had a bonfire in the middle of it and a stone altar set in front of the biggest pine tree. Two men in cloaks, with hoods concealing their heads, were standing beside the altar, holding ropes that went somewhere behind them. A machete had been stabbed into the ground directly in front of the fire, its polished blade reflecting the flames and casting a large shadow that stretched into the darkness of the forest. 

“Bring in the stag,” Ben said to the two hooded men. They pulled on their ropes, bringing out a deer into the clearing. The deer looked distressed, throwing its head around, trying to jab the two with its horns. They tackled it and laid it down on the altar. Ben turned to Liam and took the torch from him, exchanging it for the machete.

“Bring us back its heart.”

Liam looked at the machete and then up to the sky above him. Not a single star was visible in the sky overhead. The wind began to pick up strength and Liam closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Do you not wish to do this?” Ben’s velvet-like voice spoke nearby him, with a tinge of annoyance.

Liam didn’t answer. He opened his eyes and walked over to the altar and the restless deer. There wasn’t much to think about. He grabbed the deer’s horns, pressing its head down to the stone altar, bringing the machete up to its neck and-

“No. Cut its chest open. While it’s alive.” Ben said without any emotion in his voice.

“But-” someone in the crowd tried to argue, but Ben calmly lifted up his hand, silencing the one who spoke.

Liam coughed and stretched his shoulders, lining the machete up with the deer’s chest. For a moment his eyes met the animal’s. Fear and stress reflected in them, and a couple seconds later it was joined by agony, as the deer let out the most pained and sorrowful scream Liam had ever heard. 

Liam did the rest without thinking much about it, as if he were a hunter, and soon the deer’s heart flew into the bonfire as Ben continued to recite some kind of prayer to his goddess of war, while Liam stood next to him, tired and disgusted.

The two men broke the deer’s antlers off and mounted them to a metal brace that had been fitted to Liam’s head. They handed the crown to Ben. Ben then covered the antlers in the deer’s blood and placed the crown on Liam’s head. It was rather heavy, yet Liam’s head still stood tall. Liam stared blankly into the bonfire, trying to process everything that had just happened. Ben lifted up Liam’s arm in victory, proclaiming something about Liam being their new earthly leader, something about being their spiritual guide and heralding in a new era.

“Liam. It’s your time to speak.” Ben said, turning to him.

“About what?”

“Tell them what you told me.”

Oh. Right. 

Liam took a deep breath. Finally, things were picking up in the right direction.

“We have enemies in this town. Their sigil is a yellow sword and they seek to take away our rights to rule over these streets.” Liam spoke, making it up on the spot, trying to appease Ben with his words.

“We must find them and eradicate them completely. Stay alert and report anything you hear about them to me.”

“And, if any of you hear about a woman named Taylor or a man named Harold, come to me immediately. Your pay will be good and your prestige will grow. Do not fail your leaders.”

The crowd nodded in agreement.

The rest of the evening was a fuzz in Liam’s memory. More blood sacrifices, oaths, and then dead silence on the way back to the town. He just wanted to go home, shower and take a few sleeping pills, so he wouldn’t remember any of it. 

As everyone left their cars back at the warehouse, Liam overheard two men speaking. Just a few lines, but it was enough to spark a new idea in his head.

“I’m leaving.”

“They’re going to decapitate you.”

“I’d rather rot in jail than…”

“Shut up you two.” A third voice said.

Liam got into his car and started the motor. If he ever found Anton, he’d go straight to the police. Betray this cult and Ben with it, in exchange for a blanket immunity, then forget he ever was a part of this and spend his days singing in the club. Away from this insanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued as soon as my beta edits it.


	6. 5

The next morning came far too quickly for Liam’s liking. There was no news from Charlie, and that made Liam’s firm exterior crumble, at least in the privacy of his own home. Everything in the apartment haunted him and made him feel guilty and looking at a pile of Anton’s dirty clothes that had been laying there for a week now sent him into a tearful breakdown. It had finally dawned upon him that he might not be alive.

How could he have let this happen? Why did he have to get drunk? Why didn’t he protect Anton? He fucked up and now there was only hope that Anton hadn’t been chopped up into bits and thrown to the dogs. Liam grabbed one of the dirty shirts from Anton’s cloth pile and cried into it. He weeped like a small child, seeing the end nowhere near.  Gasping for air, he fell down on the bed, crying through the memory of their first meeting, their first date, first night and all the hardships and joy. And he hated how much he had to lie to Anton to keep him from finding about Liam’s real occupation.

He loved the DJ boy so much, how he knew music like it was his own heartbeat, how the sun shined in his eyes in the morning, bringing out the color, which reminded Liam of sweet, sweet caramel latte. When he wore Liam’s shirts and sweaters that were too baggy for him, in the morning, he looked like the coziest teddy bear on the planet. Liam would do anything to have him back.

An hour passed and Liam had finally cried all his tears out, head pounding worse than any hangover he’s ever had. He stumbled over to the kitchen, had a glass of water, washed his face and made a cup of coffee. While the water was boiling he returned to something he didn’t do often - meditation. Breathe In. Breathe Out. Inhale. Exhale. Inh-

“Brrp, brrp!” his Iphone rang, disturbing him. He lunged towards the kitchen table where his phone laid, hoping it to be news on Anton. To his relief, Charlie’s name was flashing over the screen.

“Yes?”

“Meet me at 8pm at that new strip club up town. We’ll talk there.”

“Okay.”

The line went silent. 

The day passed faster than a blink. There he was at 8 pm, standing outside of the strip club, wearing one of Anton’s bigger shirts underneath his leather jacket, hiding from the bright neon lights and smoking, waiting for Charlie to show up. The neon light above flashed green, shaped like a kiwi - the fruit, not the bird - and it burned Liam’s eyes.

 

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to turn quickly, fight or flight reaction activating, but it was just Charlie.

“Hey,” Liam breathed out, relieved.

“Hey.”

“What are we doing here?”

“I think your Harold and Taylor run this club here.” 

“How do you know?”

Charlie took out a smoke from his pocket and started playing with it., nonchalantly looking around. 

“Look at the guards.” 

Liam turned to look at the bouncer. Black clothes, nothing important. A bouncer like a bouncer. He furrowed his brows and looked back to the Bloodhound, who was still looking away.

“I don’t…”

“On their back.”

Liam leaned back, trying to catch a glimpse of the guards upper backside. 

Yellow sword. Pointing downwards. Just like on the men back at the alleyway.

Liam turned to Charlie and grabbed his shoulders. muttering a thank you before walking straight to the door. Charlie hurried after him.

“Do you even have a plan?” He asked Liam right as he was about to speak to the guard. Liam halted his step. Truthfully, he did not.  

“Let me handle this.” Charlie said, getting past Liam and walking to the guard. A few sentences exchanged, and the door was opened for them, revealing a world of lust and infidelity. Green neon lights, dark green curtains, paired with black leather couches. This was a gentleman’s hangout, if you ignore the scantily clad women dancing around polished poles.

“So, what now?” Liam asked Charlie, who was looking around.

“We have to get backstage.”

“They won’t just let us go everywhere we want.”

“Did you bring money?”

“Yeah...Not a large amount, but-”

“It’ll be enough. Watch and follow along.”

Charlie walked forward, sitting down at one of the couches and waving at a dancer, who walked over to him, swaying her hips in a salacious manner. Charlie motioned at Liam to come sit down next to him, as he sat back, put his hands behind his head and nodded at the dancer.

Liam sat down next to them, and took a few glimpses at the dancer. Scarlet hair, petite, with plump lips coated in red lipstick, topless, leather and lace on her legs, barely concealing anything, and high heels that could impale a man with one move.

“Hey,” Charlie poked Liam with a smirk on his face and then pointed to a dancer a bit further, “Doesn’t that one look pretty tasty?”

“Yeah,” Liam said, looking in the general direction of anywhere besides the mentioned person, absentmindedly waving over a dancer, just to not stand out of the crowd.

A dancer walked over to him, but honestly, he was much more drawn to the one on Charlie. It was rare when a woman ignited any spark of desire in him, but goddamn. Maybe he hadn’t seen Anton in too long. 

Anton. No time for earthly pleasures and definitely no time for cheating on his boyfriend. He still wasn’t quite sure what Charlie was planning, but he pretended to be enthralled by the lady entertaining him. Charlie and his girl were whispering something to each other, both smirking, as if there was some kind of game going on between them. He kept his hands behind his back and the woman trailed her fingers underneath his shirt before pulling them away. They sat there for a while like that, ordering a drink or two in between, until Charlie got up and whispered to the girl, who nodded and sat down. He waved at Liam, who excused himself and got up too, following Charlie to the bathroom.

“So… “

“This is also a brothel.”

“Oh.” 

“Get a girl, they’ll lead you to the back. Try to bribe her to stay quiet and let you sneak around during your reserved time. “

“Okay.” Sounded like a solid plan, besides one thing.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t involve another girl in this.” Liam continued. Charlie looked at him, raising one of his brows.

“Only the redhead.”

“Threesome? Feisty, Payne.”

“We’ll both pay her so she doesn’t say shit.”

“Sounds good.” 

They walked back into the club. Charlie said a few words to the girl, and soon they were in the back of the club, away from the music and the noise. A set of dark wooden doors separated the hallway from private rooms.

“So, you both want me?” The girl asked, turning her head and winking at them. Charlie smirked, Liam remained oblivious. 

“We can talk about this somewhere private, can’t we?” Charlie asked, making the girl let out a quiet ‘oooh’ of intrigue. She unlocked one of the doors, leading the men into a room similar in design to the rest of the club. She put up a “Don’t Disturb” sign on the door handle from the outside and locked the door from inside, leaving the key in the lock.

“Pay up first and then we’ll talk.” She said, reaching out her hand. Both Liam and Charlie got out their wallets and took out all the cash that was in there - about 1000 pounds, Liam assumed. She was about to take it from them, when Charlie lifted up his arm.

“First, we have one little surprise for you. Here is the deal. We pay you a thousand, yes, a thousand, and you forget we were ever here.”

“I don’t make a habit of remembering my clients.”

“No, the thing is… you’ll be entertaining only me. But my friend here,” Charlie motioned to Liam, “He’s going to slip out of here. If anyone asks, he was here with us the whole time. And not a word to your boss. Understand?”

“As long as you don’t kill anyone. Now, the money.” She said in the most business woman like voice possible, as if she were a CEO and not a prostitute.

Liam handed his share of the money to Charlie, who then again handed it to the woman. Liam headed towards the door and unlocked it. The last thing he heard before he shut the door was the girl introducing herself as Bella.

He looked around the hallway. Muffled noises that he’d rather not focus on came from the nearby doors, all with ‘don’t disturb’ signs on them. He had no idea where this ‘Harold’ was and he sure as hell didn’t want to run into Taylor’s blonde head in these halls.

Thankfully, there was a floor plan on the wall nearby. He took a moment to study it. Bingo. An office at the end of the hallway, up some stairs. That should be it. He got a move on, hurrying down the hallway, trying to make as little noise as possible. 

Indeed, there was a staircase leading up to a door at the end of the hallway, and the gap under the door was burning bright. There was light on the other side, which meant that there had to be someone in there. He slowly crept up the stairs and crouched, nearing his ear to the lock.

“...Oh, how boring it gets here.” A low voice, belonging to a man whose sluggish speech made it seem like he was a human sloth, reached Liam’s ear.

“Do the girls not make it fun for you?” A woman’s voice, vaguely familiar, answered.

“They try, but they’ll never compare to what we have.”

“Oh, Harold,” the woman giggled. Liam’s fists clenched. Taylor.

“Yes, yes, indeed. But, besides all these innuendos we’ve been throwing at each other for the past hour, we must remember why we came here in the first place. You do recall that we are getting a new shipment of the formula tomorrow, at the old harbour.”

“Indeed.”

“Is the self-proclaimed DJ still sane enough to work for us? Have you not reduced him to a shell of a human?”

“He’s very… how to say it… stubborn. Yes, let’s put it this way. He’s very stubborn, yet compliant. He’ll work for us.”

“Great. We’ll be rich in no time. Now, if I may, I have another task for you, Taylor.”

“Yes, Harold?”

“There seems to be an already established gang in this town, and from what I’ve heard, they’re lead by some lunatic.”

“And you want me to?”

“Find out what this lunatic is into. Maybe we can work out a deal with him.”

Silence. And then the doorknob twisted, sending Liam tumbling down the stairs and scrambling to get up on his feet and hiding. He crawled into the turn of the hallway, opening the first door he could find, interrupting a client and his entertainer, who met them with loud screaming.

“Sorry! Sorry!” He exclaimed, stumbling down into the hallway. Taylor was right in front of him, her back turned to him as she walked away. He covered his mouth with his own hand, trying to stay quiet until the threat disappeared.

When everything was secure, he took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. Anton was alive. He was working for them. And a drug shipment was happening. Tomorrow would be a long day.


	7. 6

“The old harbour? I didn’t know they still rented out places there.” Niall said, sharpening his knife against his leather belt. He had been priming it for the last ten minutes, while Liam laid out the plan of operations to his team, which consisted of him, Niall, Charlie, and a few others, who were quietly sitting around the table.

It was one in the morning, and Liam had called in the squad as soon as Charlie had gotten out from his ‘date’ with the showgirl, looking satisfied and as smug as ever. He kept texting someone throughout the next few hours, and Liam wondered if he was bragging to his buddies about the sex he’s just had or, perhaps, he had gotten the number of the girl. Ben wouldn’t like it either way, but he also supported the determination of getting to your goal by all means necessary, so Charlie shouldn’t be kicked out if Ben hears about him sleeping with a sex worker. Hopefully.

The others weren’t pleased to be here, disturbed from their slumber, but when the boss’s right hand called, you got out of bed immediately, unless you wanted to be flayed or have to suffer something just as horrible from Ben’s hands.

“Do you know which warehouse at least?” One of the other men asked, and everyone’s heads turned to Liam.

He hesitated.

“No.”

The asker’s eyebrows raised, as someone else scoffed in disapproval.

“But we will find out. We will sit in the shadows and patrol the area until we find them. Remember, a yellow sword, pointing downwards. Most likely will be dressed in all black.”

“This is a wild goose chase.” Someone scoffed again. Liam didn’t pay attention to them - his plan should work, it just had to.

“Our task is to kidnap one of them, as quietly as possible. I need to talk to them. We need more information.”

“On what exactly?”

“On their moves and intentions. What else? I’ll do the interrogation.”

“What about the Taylor lady and boss?” Charlie asked, sliding his phone back in his pocket. Liam nodded, looking at him.

“I’ll leave a note for the boss, explaining everything. I’m sure he will warn everyone to not let her in here, and he won’t be foolish enough as to actually hear her out.” 

“Alright.”

“Is that it?” Niall asked, putting his knife away and toying with his leather belt. Liam nodded in answer.

“I guess I take the responsibility to scout out the closest coffee place for you all, too.” Liam’s mate said, smiling, as the rest of them nodded in agreement, all craving a cup of strong coffee to wake them up.

“We take the van and the truck.” Liam said, looking at Charlie, who hurried away to find the keys in the nearby boxes.

 

Six in the morning. Liam slept in the back of the van, while Charlie, the Bloodhound, was out scouting. Niall sat in the driver's seat, playing with his walkie talkie and yawning occasionally. The other three were a bit further back in the truck, out of sight. Liam stirred in his sleep, having nightmares of Anton and the horrors he might have been suffering during this week.

 

_ A dark hallway. The floor is shaking. Liam keeps trying to walk forward, but it seems like he is stuck in place. No, finally, a door appears on his right with a light shining from under the door. He presses down the handle, pushing the door. It swings open in full force, much harder than Liam was expecting, revealing two faceless men and a blonde woman standing behind a chair, to which Anton is tied to. Liam tries to yell Anton’s name, but no sound gets past his lips. None of them even notice that he’s standing there. _

_ The men are completely faceless, even seeming headless. Black smoke comes from their necks, and they stand motionlessly, wielding gold-coated swords. The blonde woman - Taylor - her face is misshapen, her features are melted, except for her lips, that still remain red as blood and pulled in a sly smirk. She’s holding her .22 revolver to Anton’s head, _

_ And Anton, dear Anton… He looks so broken. Beard grown out, hair disheveled and dirty, shirt in holes, bruised and battered. He lifts up his head, weak, and looks at Liam. His eyes are empty and Liam isn’t sure that he actually sees him. _

_ Liam tries to step forwards, but his legs have grown into the ground, stuck in melted pavement. He struggles to pull them out wanting to run to Anton but he can’t move, he can’t do a thing. He is forced to watch how the Taylor-like creature walks forward, smirk turning into a grin, revealing sharp fangs, and how she puts the gun in Anton’s mouth, how she pulls the trigger and how Liam sees every gruesome detail of the sight for what seems like ages. _

_ “Liam, Liam,” The corpse mutters and the world around Liam starts to shake. _

_ “Liam, wake up.” _

 

“Liam, wake up.” Niall’s voice rang out clear as a ray of light in the morning mist over the bay, as he frantically shook Liam’s shoulders. Liam opened his eyes and felt frozen and cold. His body was covered in cold sweat.

“Liam, you were screaming in your sleep. Are you okay?” Niall asked, looking genuinely concerned and even a bit frightened.

“Yes, I… Just. Nervous.”

“You? Nervous about this?” Niall asked, confused. Liam understood him. He’s always made himself seem like a stable killing machine, with no fears and no worries, someone to rely on in an extreme situation. And now he was screaming from nightmares. A blow to his reputation isf the rest find out, really.

“Don’t tell anyone, okay, Niall? I’m fine.”

“Here, have some water.” Niall said, handing Liam a bottle of water, which Liam gladly accepted. They spent a moment in silence, Niall not taking his eyes off of Liam, still worried. 

“Who’s Anton?” Niall broke the silence, and Liam choked on the water, almost spilling it everywhere. How did he know? Unless he had been screaming that in his sleep.

“Nobody important.”

“Liam…” Niall drawled, putting the walkie talkie further away from them and getting in the back of the van to sit down with Liam. He pressed the key on the van’s remote control to lock the doors.

“You know you can tell me. I won’t tell anyone. Is he a friend?”

Liam nodded.

“Is he involved in this?”

Another nod.

“And let me ask another question. Is he your boyfriend?”

Liam didn’t answer. He couldn’t admit it, if that got out, he would be turned into a laughing stock, he was sure of it. Nobody in the gang was gay as far as he knew, and homophobic jokes ran rampant during their drinking evenings. He just couldn’t admit. But Niall took his silence as a yes.

“So, if I put two plus two together,” Niall started, humming a bit and looking lost in thought for a moment, “Your gun wound and him are related. They took him, didn’t they? And you just want to find where they keep him.”

Liam didn’t budge. He didn’t look at Niall, who's blue eyes felt like icebergs, radiating crisp cold.

“Brave and bold. That’s the Liam I know.” Niall said after a while, patting Liam on the shoulder. 

The walkie talkie in the front seat started chirping, and Niall hurried to get it. While the other man wasn’t looking, Liam smiled slightly, just for a moment. A wave of warmth ran over him. Maybe things weren’t so horrible after all.

“Watchman, come in, this is Bloodhound. Over.”

“Watchman is on the line. Over.”

“Several yellow cars incoming to the 6th warehouse, near the pier. Observing them now. Keep in touch. Over.”

“Got it. We’ll be listening. Over.”

 

Liam’s hand slid down to his waist, checking the gun in its holster and the several magazines that he had strapped to it. He was ready for a shoot out, though the goal was to do it cleanly and quietly. But it never went according to plan, did it?

“Watchman. It’s them. “

“Informing everyone and getting near. Hold your position. Over.”

Liam climbed in the passenger's seat while Niall gave out orders to the truck team. They had to drive to the northern side of the 6th storage unit, while Niall and Liam kept to the south.

They neared the warehouse, windows down, listening. As they got closed, they heard what Liam feared the most. Gunshots.

Charlie hadn’t said anything so Liam assumed he was already knees deep in the bloodbath. Niall speeded up, making a sharp turn and stopping in the middle of it all. Their four comrades were locked in a firefight with at least nine enemies. Three in the truck, and Charlie hiding behind a box on the neighbouring warehouse emergency exit balcony.

Liam pulled out his gun, opened a slit in the sliding door and began shooting. Taking three of the enemies by surprise, giving them all lead to the brain and evening out the count. Attention began to focus on him, the car door suffering greatly, Niall making a sharp turn to avoid being shot.

“Plow through them!” Liam yelled, and Niall didn’t hesitate to follow his plan, soon colliding with a person or two, Liam couldn’t tell anymore, as the front windshield was cracked, and he hit his head against the car wall.

The gun fight had ended with that. Either it was shock by this daredevil move, or the other party had ran out of ammo, Liam didn’t care much. He jumped out of the car and looked for someone still alive and not bleeding to their death. A frightened face flashed in one of the car windows, as a woman tried to get the car started. Liam ran over to her, pulled open the door, dragged her out by her arm, while holding a gun to her head. She had the sword logo on her jacket. Jackpot.

“You’re coming with us.” Liam grunted, while Niall came along with the rope and the blindfold. Soon she was hauled into the back of the truck and they all left, leaving 8 bleeding bodies, one crashed yellow car and a lot of bullet shells on the ground.

Niall sat at the steering wheel of the van, leaning out of the side window to see the road as the car was towed by the truck.

“You alright, Liam?”

“Just a bit of a bruise.”

“Good, I’m fine too. You, Charlie?” 

“Yeah,” the Bloodhound answered, fiddling with his phone. He was calling someone, his voice was quiet, but Liam could still make out the words he was saying.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll visit you tonight, but I need you to do a favor for me. Of course, I’ll pay. Know where your pimp’s office is? Can you plant one of those little things I gave you inside the room? Doesn’t matter where, even the door will do, somewhere,where it’s hidden. I don’t know, go ask him to be let off for a day, pretend to be sick. “

Liam furrowed his brows. Was he really trying to employ the stripper? And visit her? He wasn’t genuine about it, was he? Then again, it wasn’t really his problem.


	8. 7

He tugged the blindfold from the woman’s head. She had long, brown hair, brown eyes and a spiteful look about her. A feisty one by the looks of it, but remembering how scared she was back in the car, Liam figured she was just acting now. This will be easy.

“What’s your name?” He asked, closing and locking the door behind them.

“What’s it to you?” She spat back, looking away.

“I was just trying to be polite.”

“You almost murdered me, and now you’re polite. Huh. That’s new.”

“Look, the sooner you’ll tell me what I want, the sooner you get to go home.”

“Oh, what a gentleman. You say I get to go home, but your buddies are gonna slit my throat as soon as I walk out the door.”

“We aren’t that crude.”

“What do you want?”

“You have someone I need. A man, Anton by name, perhaps they refer to him as DJ or something like that. Brought in about a week ago. Where is he? How is he treated? What does he have to do?”

“Why are you so sure he’s still alive?”

“Because…” Liam hesitated. Hope? Wishful thinking? “I’m just sure of it. Don’t ask questions, or you won’t leave here alive.”

“Oh, so you’re the bloke Taylor told us about. The one who’ll run looking for his boyfriend. Didn’t know you had so many friends, you sounded rather pathetic from what I’ve heard.”

“That doesn’t worry me. Where is Anton?”

“I won’t tell you. Why would I?”

“You don’t seem to value your life too much. Isn’t there someone waiting for you to return home?”

She opened her mouth to talk, but no sound came out. She closed her mouth. Opened it again. At loss for words.

“There is, isn’t there? Come on, let’s get this over with.”

“He’s in… He was supposed to be moved to the warehouse where you ambushed us, I don’t know from where, but I’m pretty sure that he won’t be moved there now after what you’ve done.”

“So he is alive.”

“They intend to keep him alive. He’s a chemist.”

A chemist.  _ Anton knew how to make street drugs? What? How in the hell- _

“That’s all I know.” 

“Okay.” Liam breathed out after a moment.

The door unlocked behind them and Ben walked in, patting Liam on the shoulder and motioning for him to leave. When Liam wanted to inquire ‘Why?’, Ben just smiled. Liam’s gut turned. The girl wasn’t getting home now, or ever. No, most likely Ben would take her out for a nice walk in the forest and then put her head on the altar. Liam wanted no part in that, so he hurried out, feeling a bit guilty. But what could you do when your boss had absolutely lost his mind and was known to be a bloodthirsty tyrant? He wasn’t one to talk back to him, not right now, when he needed all the manpower he could get to rescue Anton. He wondered if Ben had read his note about Taylor. Regardless, he hoped that that blonde fox would never find anything that would appeal to him and outsmart him, and get them all in a complete mess.

 

The door closed behind him as he hurried to the fridge to have a drink. Charlie was sitting right besides, texting someone.

“How did it go?” The younger man asked, not lifting his sight up from the mobile device.

“We screwed up.”

“Oh?”

“We should have waited, they were supposed to bring…”

“Bring what?”

“The package, the package that I was looking for. It was supposed to be brought out later, and now it probably won’t. We are on square one now, and they’ll be more careful this time.”

“When you talk about a package, what do you mean exactly?”

“I…” he trusted Charlie, but he wasn’t sure if he could trust him with this. Another leap of faith?

“A person. His name is Anton. He’s being forced to work as their chemist.”

“Don’t worry, Liam, I got this.” Charlie assured him, waving the phone. “Go home, rest up, I’ll text you once my source finds something out.”

“Thank you.” Liam muttered, taking a swig from a beer bottle and slamming it down on the table, eliciting a sigh of frustration from Charlie. Then he got his coat and walked out the warehouse door, heading to his car and going home, to take a long day off until any news came. He predicted more nightmares for himself. Perhaps he should exercise? He absentmindedly pondered his daily routine in his head while Ben hauled a hooded figure into his car. 

 

A day passed with no news from Charlie. By the evening he had become restless, unable to sit or sleep. He wondered if Anton was still alive, if he would ever see him again, if there would be an explanation for his involvement in this. He was about to head out for a walk in the cold night air, when his phone started ringing. Charlie.

“Yeah?”

“You gotta help me, man!” Charlie rambled into the phone.

“What is it?” Liam furrowed his brows.

Charlie didn’t respond for a whole minute. He could hear heavy breathing, as if he was running with the phone to his mouth, gunshots and yelling in the distance.

“Charlie? Charlie, talk to me!”

“At the club, bring a gun!”

“I’ll be right there.” Liam said, hanging up the call and rushing to his room to grab his pistol and a shoulder bag full of magazines. What the hell had Charlie gotten himself into? At the club, no less?

Soon, he was down at the Kiwi. The door was wide open, there were police cars surrounding the entryway, and the policemen had their guns out and pointed at the opening. Several dead guards lay at the front of the doors, and Liam was surprised none of the windows had been shattered. What the hell was going on? He rang up Charlie, who picked up immediately.

“Where are you? What the fuck is going on here?” Liam asked.

Charlie sobbed in answer. He laughed and he sobbed. 

“I’m in the bathroom. I don’t know why,” he said, giggling through his tears, “but I’m crying in the club now, over a prostitute!”

“What…?”

“We were together, and then that Harold guy burst in and dragged her away. I had her plant microphones in his office, and somehow, he found out! And then she ratted me out, and now I’m stuck in here, 7 guards waiting outside, guns loaded, and I can’t do shit! Isn’t this great! Isn’t it, Liam?”

“Charlie, calm down. There are cops outside, I’ll try to get in somehow. I’ll bust you out.”

“Get her out too, please!” 

“Sure.” Liam said, shaking his head. Charlie was obviously out of his mind, and no prostitute was more valuable than him at this moment. Though, whoever she is, she might have information.

“I’ll see what I can do.” he finished, hanging up the phone and looking around, examining the situation. The police were blocking the front entrance, so there was no option of getting in through the front, and that would be the least smart thing to do anyway.

He decided to go around the block to see if there was any way of getting in from the other side. He sprinted around the nearby buildings, coming out behind the club after a minute or so. Lo and behold, there was a fire emergency ladder leading up to the roof. And if it lead to the roof, then there had to be a door there. Liam climbed up the stairs, getting on the rooftop and crouching, so the cops wouldn’t spot him. He sneaked over to the door and pressed the handle. The door was locked. He sighed in frustration, but then he remembered something. He sifted through his magazine bag until he pulled out his old snap gun. In his early days in the gang, he operated more as a thief than an hitman, and this little thing came in handy many times. Once again, it came in handy at the most crucial moment. The door was open and he found himself inside a dusty attic. It looked like nobody had set foot in it for ages. Turning on his phone’s flash to use as a light, he looked around for an entry to the club. He came across a trapdoor with a set of stairs attached to it a bit further. He readied his gun and slowly opened the trapdoor, first sticking his armed hand down, then his head, checking for anyone present. Spotting no one, Liam slowly lowered the stairs and climbed down, finding himself across from Harold’s office.

First order of business was Charlie. He peeked over the corner, where the single rooms were - there were two goons waiting in guard. Liam sifted through his bag again, looking for a silencer, as creating too much noise could render him dead in seconds. He took a deep breath, turned into the hallway and shot quickly, not giving the guards time to react. He sneaked past the bleeding bodies, and wandered down the hall into the club.

There were bullet holes in the couches, the curtains, and the walls. 3 guards were standing around, one of them trying to break down the bathroom door. Liam did a somersault over his shoulder, landing behind a couch. He looked over the side and regretted it. One of the guards spotted him, yelling out and getting the attention of the other two. He had to think fast. A lamp within an arm's reach - a throw - a silenced gunshot - a pained yell and a thud. Several gun holes appeared in the wall above him. He counted the shots, waiting for someone to end up without any bullets. He taunted them by waving his hand a few times, to get them to keep firing - these guards weren’t the smartest. Soon enough, the fire stopped and he got a chance to eliminate them both while they were scrambling to find their dead comrade’s gun.

He ran over to the bathroom and banged on the door.

“Charlie! It’s me!”

The door unlocked and Charlie came stumbling out, holding onto his upper left arm, which was heavily bleeding. He looked pale as a ghost and could barely walk. 

“Sit down, I’ll get you out of here in a second.”

“No, Liam, no!” Charlie pleaded, grabbing onto Liam’s sleeve with his right arm. 

“Leave me here, I’ve bled out to much. Save her, save her if you can, if not for me, then for yourself. She has information. And tell that bitch that I loved her.”

“You met her only once…” Liam began, but Charlie shook his head.

“I’ve known her since high school, Liam.”

“Oh.”

“They must be in the office. There are at least two guards and Harold himself here, never mind all the scared strippers.”

“I’ll be right back then, hold on.”

“Good luck, Liam.”

 

Liam left him there, running back in the hallway and to the office. He kicked open the door, shooting both of the guards that were shocked to see him there, unable to react fast enough.

“Stop right there.” Harold drawled, holding Bella hostage close to him, gun to her head.

“Let her go and we will be out of your hair.”

“Why does the life of some slut matter to you?”

“Information.”

“So you’re the one that had her implant microphones in my office…” he said, pressing his arm tighter to her throat, making Bella gasp for air.

“Who are you?” Harold asked.

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Who are you?” he yelled, pressing the gun into her temple harder, an expression of hate and disgust twisting his features.

“Liam. I’m Liam.”

“Why the fuck is my club laying in ruins now? Because of you and your friends?” he screamed.

“You shouldn’t have taken Anton.”

“Oh, so you’re the one Taylor told me about.”

“I don’t care what she said about me. Enough of this interrogation.” Liam said, reaching for the conveniently placed vase by the door and launching it in Harold’s face, hitting him straight in the eyes. The vase shattered and cut the other man’s face, causing him to stumble, trip, and hit his head against a bookcase hanging against the wall. The books fell upon him, making Harold produce a series of pained grunts.. He grabbed Bella’s arm and dragged her away from him, pointing his gun at Harold.

“You will let us leave, or I’ll end you right here and now.” Liam gritted through his teeth. He didn’t take his eyes off of Harold, who didn’t move from his spot. Now was the time for Liam to escape. He slammed the door shut behind them and urged Bella up the attic stairs, following after her and, once they had both entered it, shutting the trapdoor behind them.

“Tell me what you know.” He said, turning to Bella, who stood there, almost naked, and scared. He rolled his eyes, took off his shoulder bag and took off both his shirt and his jacket, throwing them to her, motioning her to put the shirt on and tie the jacket around her waist.

“Warehouse 17, old harbor. Shipment. Today.” she stuttered.

“Good. Take off those heels. There are cops outside, you can go to them for help. Tell them about the sex work, tell them that some mad man started a shooting. Don’t mention me.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, and Charlie said something about loving you,” he threw out over his shoulder while walking over to the door to the rooftop.

“Where is he now?”

“Dead.”

 

And with that, he opened the door to the roof and left her sitting in the attic. He won’t sleep in his own bed tonight, no. Warehouse #17. Time to see what they need Anton for. He had to be quick.


	9. 8

The warehouse was buzzing like a hornet’s nest. There weren’t many guards, no, but they were all on high alert, guns drawn, looking around. Liam had been smart enough to leave his car a few blocks away so as to not alert them of his presence, but now he had to find a way to sneak in without being seen. All the warehouses in the old harbour were built the same way, and he knew their layout by heart. If he wanted to get in, he had to get up on the roof. The only way to do it that would be possible right now was getting into another warehouse, getting up on its roof, and jumping over to warehouse #17. It was a huge risk. But there was no other way.

Liam had put on the oily work tank top that he kept in his car, and he reeked of machine oil and rust. But there was no time to feel nauseous. 

He crept through the shadows towards the warehouse behind #17. The lights were off - it looked completely abandoned. The door was locked with a padlock. Liam fiddled around with the lockpick gun. The lock clicked and the door opened, and he ran inside, quietly closing it behind him. He took out his phone and turned on the flash, looking around the place. Old, rusty platforms made up a partial second floor of the warehouse, and at the other end of it were stairs that led up to the roof. Liam hurried up, but halfway on his climb up the stairs, the platform connected to them started to creak. As soon as he set his foot on it, the old, corroded metal broke, making half of the platform disconnect from the wall and crumble beneath Liam’s feet. He made a leap for it, landing face down on the next platform, which also began to break off the wall. He hurried to get on his feet and ran forward, leaping from time to time to go faster, until he grabbed onto the ladder that led up to the roof, leaving the walkway far underneath him. There wasn’t a way back now.

He exhaled, brushing the blood off his forehead - he had scraped it when he fell down the first time - and looked back at the carnage beneath him. He didn’t like heights, so he quickly climbed up, busting open the trapdoor to the roof and getting out in the cold autumn air. His phone, thankfully, was still safely in his front pocket, and the screen wasn’t broken. He turned off the flash and sneaked over to the front of the warehouse roof. He thanked all gods that the roofs of these warehouses were flat, and not curved or made of glass, because that would have made everything even more complicated. No, all he had to do now was leap over a 6 meter wide gap. If he didn’t make it, he would fall 20 meters down, which would end very, very badly for him. There was only one chance.

He looked over the edge. Darkness. And hard concrete on the bottom. Oh, how he didn’t like heights. He broke out in sweat the longer he hesitated. This was madness, wasn’t it? He wasn’t some kind of parkour specialist, he wasn’t made for these things. 

_ Come on, Liam. Just fucking do it.  _ He thought, over and over, stepping back several meters, taking a deep breath, locking his eyes on to the edge of warehouse #17, accelerating, jumping at the edge and…

For a moment, time was suspended. There was nothing underneath him, nothing around him, his heart raced like he had just ran a marathon.

A thud. A grunt. A stumble and a somersault. Liam laid down on the roof of warehouse #17, trying to catch his breath, adrenaline rushing through him. He did it. He made it. He rolled over and kissed the roof a couple times before realizing what he was doing and chuckling to himself.

There was no time to lay around though. He got up and opened the trapdoor, peeking inside. He couldn’t see much, but this warehouse was definitely not abandoned. It was full of crates, and a few men walked in between them with flashlights. He could try to shoot them all, but the more people he killed, the more eager Harold would be to kill him, so he decided on being as civil as possible. Which meant finding a hiding spot until most of them left. The only place he could hide were the crates. He didn’t like the thought at all. 

Liam climbed down the stairs slowly and carefully, trying to not make a sound. The platforms didn’t break underneath his feet, but his boots did make a lot of noise, so he quietly untied them and left them by the stairs, holding his breath and keeping close to the walls.

He walked onto the platforms, looking for the highest stack of crates. Some of the crates weren’t shut, they were covered with tarp instead, and Liam hoped one of them would be at least half empty. But to get to them...That required another leap, and Liam didn’t want to risk it. He took off his gun bag and placed it on the platform before climbing on the railings and jumping forward. With a loud thud he landed on the top box, instantly squatting down and trying to remain invisible.

“What was that?” One of the men underneath asked. Someone with a high pitched voice told them to ‘keep it down’, and no other inquiries followed. Liam let out the breath he was holding and slowly climbed down the crate pyramid, looking for an open crate high above the ground he could hide in. The one’s that were opened were filled with guns, but after a few more leaps and almost falling down he stumbled upon a tarp covered crate 3 meters above the ground, which also happened to be empty. He climbed in, pulled the tarp over himself and waited.

He waited for what felt like hours, until he could hear no more sounds. He peeked from the box and internally rejoiced - only one man was left in the building, as far as he could see. He was freezing cold, the scent of his shirt had made him almost throw up twice in the last hour, and he just wanted to be in bed with Anton. And if even one man was standing between him and his wishes, he could say goodbye to his life. 

Liam climbed down from the pyramid of crates and grabbed a crowbar that was laying on a recently opened crate. He sneaked to the side of a crate and looked over it. The man was sitting and watching a football game on a small TV. He was wearing a tracksuit and had medium length hair that was pushed back by a headband. 

“Oi! Rubbish! All of you!” The man yelled at the tv in a high pitched voice, throwing his hands up in the air, frustrated with the game.

Liam continued to sneak forward, creeping up to the man, but at the last moment the crowbar hit against the ground, making a loud noise, making the man turn around and spot Liam.

“What the-” the man exclaimed, pushing himself up from the chair and grabbing the small TV, pulling it’s cord off and throwing it at Liam. Liam used the crowbar as a baseball bat, launching the TV aside. 

“You- You’re the one-”

“Taylor told us about, yeah, yeah, get on with it.”

“No, Harry said you’d come here! You’re the one who took El, didn’t you?”

“It may be so, but I didn’t come here to apologise.” 

The man kept moving his hand around the table behind him the whole time he talked to Liam, and suddenly dashed forward, a machete in hand. Liam parried his hit with the crowbar, and they locked in combat. Neither of them were trained in swordfighting, so it was a clumsy mess of swings from above and the sides, neither managing to get to the other, until Liam managed to use the curved end of the crowbar to twist the machete out of the man’s hand and press him against the wall by putting the crowbar parallel to his throat.

“What was the shipment? Why do you have Anton?”

“Meth! Street meth!” The man said, rising his hands up in surrender.

“Let me go, please! I won’t tell them you were here.”

“Sure you won’t.”

“I just want to see El again, please.”

Liam sighed, frowning at the man. He understood how it was to lose someone, but this was a bloody industry.

“You...you won’t.”

The man looked straight at him while saying the following phrase: “Then kill me.”

“Wha-”

“Do what you do best.”

Liam stepped back and the man fell on his knees. 

“Take the machete and don’t hesitate. You came here to do this.”

Liam nodded, took the machete and returned to the man, who had pulled the chair to him, to lay his head upon.

“Nice and easy now. Do it quick.”

Liam raised his arm up and let the blade fall. Then he dismembered the body, looked around and found a couple of large garbage bags, got his boots and his guns back and dragged the trash bags to his car. He was going to give this poor soul a burial, if not a proper one, then at least a burial.


	10. Interlude

“Oh, Liam, oh, I’m so glad to see you!” Anton rambled on, wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck and kissing him. The thunder kept roaring and lightning flashed in the sky above. 

“How did you get here?” Liam asked, but then silenced Anton, looking deep in the forest. Lights. Floating lights were coming closer. People. Liam had a bad feeling about it. This was their forest, yes, but if Anton was in their forest, then something was seriously amiss.

“Quick, we have to get out of here.” Liam said to Anton, who groaned and shaked his head.

“I can’t walk. Your shovel…” Anton pointed to his foot, which Liam had accidentally hit.

“I’m so sorry, here, I’ll carry you.” Liam said, dropping his shovel and picking up Anton as if he was his bride, and ran back to the car as fast as he could. He could hear voices, angry voices behind him and light moving closer. He rushed forward, trying to not stumble over anything and fall. His oil stained tank top was completely wet at this point, as the rain came down even harder. 

Finally, he reached the car. He put Anton down in the front seat, threw the plastic bags from his trunk over his shoulder, smashed the trunk closed and got into the car.

“There should be a first aid pack in the gloves compartment.” he said to Anton, who nodded and opened it, taking out the box. 

“Now, explain everything.” Liam said, speeding out of the forest, hoping to stay unnoticed.

 

Anton stayed silent. When Liam looked over to him, the other man was evading his gaze.

Liam sighed, not prodding his boyfriend for information. He was most likely in shock, he had to be, he had been buried alive. They had to lay low for awhile, so Liam drove towards their home. In his head he lifted over his plans for the future.

Blanket immunity. And then, freedom. Of course, at the cost of being a traitor. But that didn’t matter, he and Anton would move far, far away. Liam had the money for that. He looked over to Anton, who was staring out the window into the darkness and a wave of relief washed over Liam. He was alive. They would get out of this mess, soon, soon enough.

“I can explain.” Anton spoke up suddenly, making Liam jump a little and hit the brakes of his car.

“Please do.”


	11. 9

Anxiously, Anton fiddled with his phone. He dreaded the phone call that was about to interrupt his morning. He didn’t want to hear Taylor’s voice on the other end, sickly sweet tones, reminding him that time was running out. Anton didn’t want to know what Harold had in store for him if he were late with his payment.

These people preyed on those looking for opportunity to make their lives better. First, they would offer you what you wished for, in return for a favour. When you’d have gotten comfortable with where they had gotten you, they’d show up from nowhere, ringing on your door and demanding payment, be it in work or in money. In Anton’s case, they wanted money, because Anton refused to do what they knew he had been good at once. Chemistry.

He just wanted to be a DJ, make music with his boyfriend Liam, who had the voice of an angel and the talent and vocal versatility that would easily make him one of the greats, if only fortune would smile upon them. He shouldn’t have made a deal with the devil, but here he was, trapped.

He thought about how it had happened. Months ago, while he was working on his day job, cleaning floors at a club and daydreaming while looking at the DJ’s booth, a woman had approached him. Young, blonde, striking red lips, charming at first glance, but as soon as she opened her mouth it was like toads jumped out. Anton didn’t like her, but he still listened to what she had to say.

 

_ “So, you’re Anton?” she asked, smiling at him. Anton nodded, putting away his floor mop. _

_ “Didn’t know they made DJ’s clean floors and work like measly little blue-collars.” _

_ “I’m not actually a DJ,” Anton explained.  _

_ “Oh?” she sighed in theatrical despair. “If one were to watch you for more than five minutes, it would be quite obvious that you’d much rather be up there, on the stage, rather than next to the bucket.” _

_ Anton blushed slightly. Was he really that obvious? He didn’t want to get fired for daydreaming.  _

_ “And I was looking for a DJ for my house party next week, but, everyone I called is booked, so I came here looking for someone free. The owner told me that you’d asked to be let to try a few times, but he’s refused you. Why is that, hmm?” _

_ “Because I don’t have an actual reputation or anyone to convince him to give me a chance.” Anton said, sighing. It was understandable,really, and he had no hard feelings, but it was really hard to find gigs when nobody knows your name. _

_ “Well, here is my number, call me on Saturday and I’ll tell you where to go.” she said, giving him a business card. He took it and scanned it over. _

_ “Taylor Swift, Yellow Sword agency? What’s this agency?” _

_ She had already gotten ready to leave, her back facing Anton, but she looked over her shoulder, a sly smile on her face. _

_ “We look for people with potential. Then, we help them achieve that potential. And it only costs you to do one favor for us.” _

_ “What would that favor be?” Anton inquired. Taylor’s smile changed to a mysterious one as she waved at him and left. Anton slid the card in his pocket, a glimmer of hope being born in his chest. Were things getting better? _

 

No, they definitely weren’t. If he had known that this so called ‘agency’ was a cover-up for a criminal circle, he would have never gone to that party in what turned out to be a strip club called Kiwi, which was owned by some sleazy guy who tried to look high fashion, but in reality, he personified a sloth and had the looks of a sock monkey. 

The phone rang, Taylor’s name flashing on the screen. He hesitated to pick up, but if he didn’t, it would only get worse.

“Yes?”

“Do you have the money?” the familiar voice, this time stone cold and repulsive, asked.

“No, I haven’t had enough time and gigs, I’ve been trying to save, but the sum is just too big!” Anton tried to explain. The woman on the other end scoffed - she was having none of it.

“Listen, Anton. We gave you an opportunity and we gave you a choice to pay us back for it either in money, or in labour. The second one you refused to do.”

“Yes, because I told you I was done with it. Nothing good would ever come out of it if people would find out that I ever made street drugs.”

“You did it before, and then you had no regard for what anyone would think.”

“I was young and stupid-”

“You haven’t changed.” Taylor remarked, and Anton felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured on him. Yet, he became slightly infuriated. Who was she to say that? 200 000 pounds from a DJ who plays in a 2-star club in a town in the middle of nowhere? Did she and her superiors even think before they made their offers?

Then again, it was smart from their side, trapping people in with these huge amounts of money and making them work for their lives. Would Anton really have to pick up the job he had a couple years ago, in a different country, in a different time, when he was a different person? Would he have to fuel the misery of people with his knock-off crystal meth against his own will to save his own life? He wanted to live, but he wasn’t sure he could live with himself if he became a ‘chemist’ again.

“How do you even know I am capable of making drugs? Where did you get this information from?”

“You don’t have much time.” Taylor said, hanging up the call before Anton could even get answers to all of his questions.  _ What a bitch. _

 

He placed the phone down on the apartment’s kitchen counter and started pacing back and forth. If only he could tell Liam about this… But Liam was just a warehouse supervisor, there would be no way he could get the money needed in a matter of days, was there? It was impossible. Anton’s gut turned from fear, making him nauseous. He darted to the bathroom to relieve his stomach, anxiety spiking up and causing him to tremble and cough until he threw up.

He laid on the tiled bathroom floor, tired and spent, uncertain about his future. Yet, he didn’t have time to despair. He had a gig in a couple hours and he had to get himself ready. Liam mustn’t know about his problems, he would fix this himself. Somehow.


	12. 10

“Come on now, hands up!” his boyfriend said into the microphone, moving across the stage and keeping the crowd busy, while Anton pretended to check the sound board. He had been anxious ever since the morning, and it didn’t go away. He was absolutely nerve wracked, and even more so after he thought he’d seen Taylor enter the club.

The clock ticked forward, and there was no more time to hesitate, so he took the mic, put on a smile and looked at Liam, the only person that brought him joy right now.

“Alright, Liam,” he said, pointing at his boyfriend.

“Eyy…” Liam drawled, “Zedd,” referencing Anton’s stage name.

“Let’s get this tropical evening started with one of your jams.” he said, clicking on a folder on his laptop titled simply - ‘Liam’ - and looking at him to hear which one Liam would like to perform.

“Yeah, let’s do Bedroom Floor.” 

The tune started blasting from the speakers and Anton manned the light show, making the lights turn red, with white strobe lights flashing on every other beat. He couldn’t help it but to smile while listening to Liam - his boyfriend was a dream come true vocally.

The song ended and Liam sneaked back to Anton to give him a quick kiss before disappearing in the crowd. Now Anton was left alone with his thoughts and a couple dozen drunk people looking for a good night out. He had to deliver, no matter what happened.

The gig was over in a heartbeat. Two hours passed like they weren’t even there, and he packed up his things, glancing at the crowd and trying to spot Liam. He didn’t see him, so he shrugged and started walking to the backdoor, to get out in the alleyway, to his car, without having to pass through the sweaty and drunk crowd. With the corner of his eye he could see someone move towards him in the crowd, but he ignored it. He hurried out the door - and stopped right in his tracks.

The alleyway was now a dead end. Three men were standing at the end of it, a car parked right in front. Seconds later Liam came tumbling out of the door, dragging a woman behind him. The woman quickly stood in front of Anton and pulled a gun on him.

“Taylor.” Anton breathed out, ignoring Liam’s confused muttering behind him. They’d come for him. She had been right, he didn’t have much time, but this was ridiculous.

“Time to pay up, Anton.” she demanded, cocking the gun at him as two of the men walked up to her.

“I told you, I need more time!” Anton said, hands starting to shake and chest clenching, giving him the sensation of a cold hand around his heart.

“ You told us that months ago. We gave you time. You didn’t deliver. One way or another, you are going to pay. Be it with money or your life.”

“You’re insane. You aren’t really going to kill me.” he rambled. He was no use to them dead, was he? 

Liam was getting more and more agitated behind him, so Anton told him to shut it, while he himself lifted his arms up. Perhaps they could get out of this in one piece, maybe he could buy time for himself if he explained the situation.

“Look, all I have in my bank account is a thousand. I haven’t been able to get any new deals and I don’t have enough to move to the big city in search of more. And the website didn’t pick up traffic like I hoped it would, I really just need a bit more time and luck.”

“We invested in you,” Taylor sighed, ”We invested so much...Oh, Harold will be so disappointed to see your face.”

Anton raised his eyebrow? Invested? So much? All they did was point him to a couple low end gigs, what was she even going on about?

On Anton’s left, Liam lunged forward, causing Anton to shriek.

 

The two men that had been standing beside Taylor rushed over to Anton, grabbing him by the arms and dragging him away. He dropped his laptop, trying to get out of their grip, while looking at Liam and screaming for help. Perhaps he could create a big enough fuss and someone would help out. He saw a flash of Taylor standing in front of Liam, pointing her gun in the man’s face, before they threw Anton against the trunk of the car, proceeding to punch the DJ in the face over and over, until his face was bleeding and his nose was broken, and he passed out.

He woke up in a dusty, dark attic with a low ceiling. His hands were bound and so were his legs. He could feel dried blood all over his face, a bitter taste on his lips and a crust on his face. Anton’s nose was pulsing rapidly, and even the slightest touch hurt like hell. He was happy there weren’t any mirrors around because he would probably look atrocious and even scary to himself.

He crawled as best as he could to the attic window. It, too, was dusty, with fingerprints and a layer of dust on it. He cleaned a part of the window off, causing a cloud of dust to rise and make him cough, and then looked outside. It was pitch black except for a few streetlights somewhere right out of his field of view. He didn’t know where he was and he didn’t know what they would do to him. At this point he hoped they would simply tell him to work on the street drugs and that would be the end of it. Work off his debt and then he’d be free. Right? It would be that simple, Anton thought naively.

Suddenly his thoughts darted back to Liam. Liam. He had been shot, hadn’t he? Anton’s lips started to tremble, and slowly, but surely, hot tears started running down his cheeks, drawing patterns in the layer of blood that was on his face. Soon enough, he was full-out sobbing, in the middle of a panic attack, in emotional turmoil. All he could think over and over was a prayer to God to keep Liam safe. His sobbing became louder and louder, until suddenly something started banging on the floor, making him shut up in fear.

He didn’t even notice how he drifted off to sleep on the wooden floor, but he was brutally woken up by a kick to the groin several hours later. The morning light had barely begun to show over the horizon, but two men, without speaking a word, were dragging him around the attic like a ragdoll, before finally throwing him on one of their shoulders and carrying him down a steep ladder into a dark green corridor. He knew this place. It was the Kiwi. They threw him down on the ground, making him yelp. Then they cut the binds and told him to get up, put his hands behind his head and walk towards the door that Anton knew hid Harold’s office.

The door opened, revealing a very disgruntled Harold, who looked even worse than usual, going down from sock monkey to plush bacteria with tentacles. Tentacles being his long, unwashed hair that was sticking to his sweaty forehead. On top of it all, he was wearing an utterly ugly red and turquoise suit that looked like it had been ripped off a very old couch. Harold stared right at him, eyes glazed over.

“So,” he drawled, “you’re finally here. With no money, judging by your face.”

“Was it really that obvious?” Anton laughed nervously, becoming even more conscious of the layer of filth on his face. He must have dark circles around his eyes too, looking like a raccoon.

Harold didn’t answer his attempt to joke. Anton wasn’t exactly sure if the other man was actually listening, since his eyes were empty and wandering somewhere else. Plus, the tone and speed of his voice reinforced Anton’s suspicion that Harold wasn’t exactly in this place of existence.

“You have another choice right now.”

“What would that be?” Anton asked, trying to hide the fear and anxiety from his face. He was overheating from his anxiety, but he wanted to at least try talking his way out of this.

“Either you work for us or you die.”

“Depends on what the work is.”

“We have a shipment of ingredients incoming next week,” Harold said, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling,”and we need someone to turn that into material. That is where you come in.”

“For how long will I have to work for you?”

Slowly, the other man’s head tilted down, and his empty eyes focused on Anton, a twisted grimace that made his mouth look more like an open wound than a smile appearing on his face.

“Until you die.”

“What?” Anton gasped. “You can’t be serious! I don’t accept this!”

“You don’t have a choice.” Still, with that wicked grin on his face, Harold answered.

“No, this is slavery! I demand to be let go as soon as you earn back the money I owe you!”

“No amounts of money can replace the nerve wrack that you’ve caused us.” Harold said, voice tired, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head back once again.

“I don’t understand what you are talking about. Is signing me up for a couple of small gigs such an issue?”

Harold laughed. It was a sad sound, akin to a sad dog.

“We’ve had our eye on you ever since Germany. Yes, Anton, I don’t have to look at your face to know how it looks right now. I am just a leader of another branch. Different name, but in the very core, the same people.”

“You ran away from us and you know what in your old gang, the name of which I can’t even pronounce, they did with traitors like you. We should send you back there for execution, but doesn’t working sound better than that?”

Underneath the layer of blood and bruises, Anton paled. Could he ever be free of his past, that he tried to forget so hard? Now it was coming back, Harold’s voice being the rattling of the skeleton’s bones.


	13. 11

They drove him to what looked like an old harbour. Anton hadn’t visited this part of town before, only spoken to Liam about it a couple times. Liam was very adamant each time that Anton should keep away from there, saying that it was one of the most crime riddled areas of the town. Now he was here, against his own will. Perhaps Liam would think of looking here first? Could he get the town’s police to raid the whole place? Of course, he would go to the police, that’s what any sane person would do. Liam wasn’t some kind of Terminator slash Indiana Jones, was he? 

He was guarded 24/7 by a guy named Louis, who had a high, sandpaper-like voice, and constantly wore track suits. Anton was reminded of the Slavs he saw in the suburbs back in Germany and, a very long time ago, on the streets of Saratov. He was pretty sure this one was through and through an English bloke, a chav was what they were called. Once, when nobody else was around, they had had a conversation about lad culture and football. He thought Louis would be a decent enough fella, if he wasn’t tied into all this mess, and perhaps would be a bit more polite and self conscious, but was that really what you could ask from a thug?

Louis was often visited by a woman, his girlfriend, and Anton was forced to watch them making out in front of his cell a couple of times - just because there was nothing else but concrete walls to look at otherwise. 

He had no idea in which of the warehouses he was held, since Louis didn’t answer any of his questions about the location or even the time or date. He just served him food and guarded while Anton was let into the bathroom outside of the cell. Then it was back to sleeping on a mattress that was thrown into the corner of the room. 

During the night it got colder, and Anton found himself trembling from the cold quite often. He was sure that in a few more days, he’d be sick with a proper cold, or with pneumonia or even worse, but he didn’t dare to ask for more blankets. He didn’t want to risk another beating.

They didn’t tell him when he would have to work. All he did was wait, wait for hours on end. If it hadn’t been for Louis and his chatty mouth, he would have gone mad pretty fast. One or two times Taylor came around, each time scolding Louis for being so friendly with him, but never speaking to Anton himself.

One night, though, when he couldn’t sleep, he overheard a conversation Louis was having with a few other guards.

“The packages?” Louis asked, turning away from his small TV to face a guard, whose face Anton couldn’t see and whose voice he didn’t recognize.

“Tomorrow. 6th warehouse. Early morning. They’ll get the stuff and then they want to drag him,” the guard said, referring to Anton, “to there, so he can work on it.”

“Two things. One, damn,” Louis whined, “He was good to talk to! And two, isn’t it a bit dangerous to have him do chemistry right next to crates upon crates of material? Isn’t that stuff flammable?”

“How did you do in chemistry at school?”

“I barely passed.”

“Don’t pretend to know what’s better.”

“Hey, hey!” Louis got up, trying to square up with the other guard, who just laughed and pushed him back on the chair.

“I don’t have time for this.”

Anton went to sleep with the hopes of escaping when he would be moved, but alas, their plans changed drastically. He woke up to Louis screaming and cursing, the warehouse resembling a hornets’ nest.

“They did what?” Louis kept screaming, hands in his hair, despair on his face.

“They killed them all? All of them? Are you sure?”

Someone answered him, but Anton couldn’t hear what they said.

“What do you mean she wasn’t there? Where could she be then? Hostage? Why would they do that?” 

Suddenly, the man turned to Anton, face twisted in anger. He ran up to the cell, frantically unlocked the door, and ran over to Anton, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

“This is all because of you!” he spat in Anton’s face, and raised his arm for a punch, but someone called him out before he could hit. He walked back out and locked the cell, throwing the key on the table next to the TV and walking off, still fuming with rage.

Anton had a very bad feeling about this. Whatever had gone wrong, it did not mean good news for him. 

Yet another day passed in waiting, only this time Louis didn’t even give him food or drink for the whole day, and if not for Taylor in the evening, he might have gone mad from all the discomfort he was in.

“Taylor, tell Louis to bring me something to eat, I haven’t even had breakfast.” he pleaded. Taylor raised her eyebrows and walked off. After a few moments he could hear glass breaking and Louis’s exclaims for mercy. He soon walked to Anton with a platter of food and a bottle of water, not even daring to look the hostage in the eyes.

“Don’t take this as a sign of me warming up to you, Zaslavski,” Taylor said, lighting a thin cigarette. “We only need you in a decent state, so you can work.”

Quickly shoveling the food in his mouth with the fork - a surprisingly big portion of mashed potatoes and some pork - he mumbled in response, a bitter tone to his voice, ”Perhaps your goons shouldn’t have beat me up so much!”

He should be scared, he should be anxious, but somehow he had come to subconsciously accept what was happening and adapt. There was no point in freaking out and risking another beatdown, was there? Though, his big mouth might get him beaten up anyways, he thought.

“So,” he said in between bites, “What plans do you have for me?”

“Tomorrow we will receive a shipment to this warehouse. Hopefully your pesky boyfriend won’t kill all of our men again.”

Anton choked on his food, making Taylor give him a weird look.

“Liam? What does Liam have to do with this? What happened?”

“You don’t even know that your boyfriend is part of the gang that’s been in charge of this town until we arrived?”

Liam? A gang?

“He’s just a warehouse supervisor!”Anton stated, furrowing his brows.

“And Louis is one too. The only warehouses in this town are these, the old harbour ones. I’m surprised you didn’t know that the town doesn’t even have an operational harbour anymore, this all is owned, all of these are private property. One of these warehouses is theirs, though we have no way of knowing which, your boyfriend is too good at keeping everything under wraps. Which is impressive, but doesn’t make me despise him any less.”

Anton sat there, with his mouth hanging open, while Taylor continued, growing increasingly more amused by Anton’s lack of knowledge.

“Your boyfriend is a killer, Zaslavski.”

“No…” Anton shook his head in denial.

“Yes, yes!” Taylor laughed. “Our intel tells that he’s recently even been made the right hand of the leader, so he’s pretty far up in the rankings. I’ll tell you another thing. It was bizarre, how they did it. He performed animal sacrifice, walked around with deer antlers on his head and gave this whole big speech about how we here are the bad guys.”

Anton didn’t know what to say. Liam was in a murderous cult? What?

“Sleep well, Anton, tomorrow will be a busy day.” Taylor said, walking away while giggling, still amused by Anton’s shocked state.

He didn’t sleep for hours. He felt betrayed by Liam. He had lied to him all this time. He was a killer, not a warehouse supervisor. Well, that too, but… The right hand of the leader? For how long had he been in this gang? How big was this gang? How many people had he killed? And the animal sacrifice? What twisted things did Liam take part in?

Perhaps Liam was made to do it against his own will. Anton tried to convince himself that his boyfriend wouldn’t take pleasure from such acts as murder. Though, the more Anton thought about it, the more he remembered his own days of being in a gang back in Germany. He never killed anyone, not directly, perhaps only by supplying someone with meth that they OD’d on, but he had long since forgiven himself. No, his thoughts lingered at how he had joined the gang. He came from a poor family and didn’t do very well in school, except for chemistry, and he was looking for something to do with his life, something with adrenaline and action. Somehow he had stumbled upon a cache of ingredients and a chemistry set in an abandoned building, and out of curiosity made something up, before he was discovered by a band of armed thugs. They would have made off with him, but their chemist halted them after he had examined Anton’s product. That’s how he fell into the pit of crime. Years later, he found his way out of it, longing for a safer lifestyle. He thought he was free now that he had moved to a different country, but alas, here he was, captured and made to do the same thing he ran away from.


	14. 12

It was early morning when the truck arrived. The guards hauled in sealed boxes of what Anton could only guess were ingredients. Through the bars of his cell he could see them bringing in several tables and carrying them into the depths of the warehouse. Louis had noticed that Anton was awake, and brought over his breakfast.

“What is that?” Anton asked, pointing to the boxes.

“Your work,” Louis answered, still not eager to participate in conversation with him.

“Is there equipment? Something more than a bottle of Pepsi and some cold meds?”

“I don’t know and I won’t let you out of here until I’m ordered to by Harold or Taylor.” Louis said, walking away. Anton sat back, finishing his breakfast and stretching a bit, trying to keep himself occupied.

They came for him the same evening. Guards, with Taylor in the lead. They woke him up, and without any ceremonies, put a hood over his head, tied his arms, and pushed him inside a car. 

“Where are you taking me?” he asked, hoping to get at least some information out of his kidnappers. Taylor, who was apparently sitting beside him, sighed in frustration at the sound of his voice.

“Change of plans. You won’t be cooking.”

“What?”

“You’ll see.”

She went silent. Somewhere along the way their car turned onto a bumpy road, and he could no longer see flashes of streetlights. He was growing anxious, but tried to keep himself still. The car ride seemed endless, but finally, they stopped. He heard the door open, and Taylor pushed him outside. The hood was taken off, revealing that he was in a forest, standing at the gates of a clubhouse. The gates had strange flags, black and red,with ravens on them, and torches illuminated the way to the house.

With two guards by his side and Taylor behind, his hands bound, he walked to the door, which was opened by a short man whose most noticeable feature was the deep gash in one of his palms.

“Thank you, Niall.” A charismatic voice said, somewhere out of Anton’s sight. 

“Come, sit down, my guests.” the same male voice continued, and the man who had opened the door pointed to the depths of the house.

They walked into a dark room with plenty of chairs put in a crescent around an altar. The man was standing in the shadows, his face hooded. Harold was sitting there, wearing one of his ugly suits. Anton sat down in the first row, the two goons next to him, and Taylor walked off to Harold, whispering something in his ear.

“Now, when we are all here, we can finally begin. “

“Begin what?” Anton asked.

“Silence!” the man exclaimed, making Anton flinch. Then, in a much calmer tone, ”All will be revealed soon.”

Then he turned to Harold and Taylor.

“You come here with an offering to our great goddess and to me, her hand on this world.”

“Indeed.” Harold said, standing up. “We bring you this sacrifice as a token of our wish to cooperate and coexist, we do not want war.”

“I see. Give me your hand, you shall give a blood oath to our goddess to mark this alliance.” the hooded man said, lifting a knife from the altar and swiftly cutting a gash in Harold’s hand. The man didn’t even wince. Anton wondered if he took morphine and couldn’t feel anything. His constricted pupils sure made Anton think that he might be right about it.

Then the man began chanting something that Anton couldn’t understand. It sounded like English, but it wasn’t. Was this the cult that Liam was part of? Was this Liam’s boss? What was this ‘sacrifice’ that they spoke of? Why was Anton even a part of this pledge of allegiance?

Taylor had to go through the same process, though she was a lot more unwilling and even tried to back out of it, but Harold silently stared at her, until she gave in. The man called Niall tended to her hand immediately.

Then the hooded man turned to Anton.

“What is your name, child?” he asked.

“Anton.”

“Oh, wonderful. Do you have any relation to a man named Liam?”

“Yes, he’s my-” he stopped, remembering that Liam wasn’t quite comfortable with being out just yet.

“My friend.”

“Well, this friend of yours has been giving our allies and me quite a lot of headache lately. He’s been disobedient and reluctant to participate in our clan outings, and the last thing I heard he was hanging around with prostitutes, even saving one from death, while you, his friend, are...In this situation.”

“I’m sure he has his reasons.”

“The reasons don’t matter, as he will be punished tonight.”

“What will you do?”

“We will sacrifice. You.”

Anton’s eyes widened. Sacrifice? As in put on an altar and murder?

“What?” he stuttered out.

“Exactly what you heard. You will be buried alive while I attend to the second part of their oath, and afterwards, we will listen to your screams from the underground until you pass away. It’s for a good cause.”

“A good cause?” Anton shrieked. “A good cause? You’re madmen, you kill people, you sacrifice them like this was a prehistoric cult! You’re savages!”

Then he turned to Harold and Taylor, dropping on his knees, tied hands up in plea.

“Please, this wasn’t part of the deal, please. I’ll serve you double, no, triple the time, just let me live, don’t let him do this to me!”

“Your fate is sealed,” Harold said in the most monotonous voice a human could muster.

The two guards grabbed Anton by his arms and dragged him out in the cold night, pushing him into a wooden box that was laying on the ground and untying his hands, before a lid closed over him. He didn’t dare to move as he heard a hammer hitting nails on the edges of the lid. This was it. He would die after hours of agony and slow suffocation, at the hands of modern madmen. He had just wanted to be a DJ, make music! Not die as a human sacrifice! Was that too much to ask?

The box was lifted up and carried, shifting uncomfortably from side to side with every step the guards made. This was it. This was it. Anton laid there, staring in the darkness above him. Shock had already set in and made him strangely calm. This wasn’t happening, was it? He would wake up and it would all be a bad dream. 

But the coffin hit against the ground, hitting the air out of Anton’s lungs. This was definitely happening. He could hear thuds, made by the earth that was thrown on top of the coffin, and they became more and more muffled. He closed his eyes, trying to come to terms with his demise. The less he would struggle, the easier it would be to die, wouldn’t it?

The thuds stopped. He was left alone. Slowly breathing in and trying to hold his breath as much as he could, he contemplated his life. He didn’t get to achieve half of what he wanted. Cliche as it was, he was rethinking his life, and it seemed like it flashed before his eyes. He smiled as he remembered how he met Liam.

Liam. His heart broke a little. Liam’s effort would be in vain, he would die in here.

Suddenly, the box shook. Something hit against its lid. Was there someone above him? Soon, several rhythmic knocks were made against the coffin. Could it be? Someone had dug him up? Anton took a deep breath and screamed, begining to bang against the lid to catch their attention.  _ Please help me, help me- _

“Help!” Anton shouted, desperately trying to punch open the lid. Whoever was above started hitting the lid somewhere at the bottom. The lid broke and Anton got stung in the foot, causing him to yelp out. His saviour was breaking off the lid piece by piece, letting oxygen in. He could see flashes of light, then that someone grabbed his arm and pulled him up, light shining right in Anton’s face. It was raining, even thundering, and a flash of lightning revealed his saviour's face.

He couldn’t believe it.

Liam.


	15. 13

While Anton was talking, Liam had listened quietly, driving all the way to their apartment. He didn’t say anything when Anton finished, gears turning in his head, planning his next move. He wasn’t going to judge Anton for his criminal past, how could he, when an hour ago he had a dismembered body in his own car?

Anton didn’t seem to be willing to ask Liam about his dirty deeds either. Perhaps it was for the best. Liam could already envision moving far, far away, getting new identities and forgetting any of this ever happened. He helped his boyfriend up to their apartment and locked the door, blocking it with the help one of their armchairs, for extra safety.

Silently, they walked to the bathroom to tend to Anton’s wounds. While Liam was bandaging Anton’s foot, the other man finally spoke up.

“So, what do we do now?”

“We go to the police?”

“What?” Anton furrowed his brows. Did Liam really just suggest going to the law?

“You can’t be serious? If they start investigating you… I mean, I don’t know what you’ve done, but from what I’ve heard, it’s not exactly what the police would regard as law abiding.”

“Anton…” Liam stopped tying the bandages and looked up at his boyfriend, their gazes meeting. Anton could see a tinge of desperation in Liam’s warm, brown eyes.

“Do you still trust me?”

Anton sighed out and grabbed Liam’s chin with his hand, pulling him up for a kiss. When he pulled away, he pressed his forehead against Liam’s and looked into his eyes, saying calmly, yet firmly, “I trust you and I love you, no matter what you’ve done. I just don’t understand how you can think of pulling this stunt with the police without getting jailed for 20 life sentences without parole.”

“Ever heard of a blanket immunity?” Liam asked, resuming bandaging Anton’s foot.   
Anton shook his head in denial.

“It’s our key to success. It means that, if we get a blanket immunity, none of what we say can be used against us. I can tell about all the crimes I’ve committed after my boss ordered them, and nobody can prosecute me about them.”

“That’s a thing? Seems kind of… not efficient.”

“Efficient or not efficient, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that it’s our one way ticket to a new life. We’ll get into the witness protection program, change our names, change how we look, move far, far away from here and start a new life. I’ve got the money for that, you know crime pays.”

“Yeah, but what do you think of doing? You cannot just go down there right now and waltz right in with me in tow.”

“No, no, I need to plan this out. We need rest now. Knowing Ben, he won’t do anything for another two days unless I go straight to him to get killed. I’ll think this over. You need to go to sleep, Anton. I’ll think everything over and tomorrow morning we will get to work.”

“Sounds good.” Anton said, placing another kiss on Liam’s lips. He asked Liam to fetch him some clean clothes while he took a shower, and Liam left him alone. He walked to their bedroom and looked at the digital clock on his side of the bed. The green display showed two in the morning. He sighed, suddenly becoming very weary. Most in the world, he just wanted to lay down in bed and fall asleep for three months, but he couldn’t. He had to save their lives first.

He dug through their wardrobe, finding Anton clean underwear, some warm sweatpants and fuzzy socks. He hesitated while picking out a shirt, hand hovering over Anton’s own t-shirts and one of Liam’s long sleeve t-shirts. He finally picked a Squirtle long sleeve t-shirt that Anton had bought him once, while walking around the merch store in his Pikachu onesie. Liam chuckled at the memory. He laid the clothes on the bed and reached for the top shelf, pulling off a fuzzy blanket and the pillow that came with it. Placing that on the bed, he grabbed the clothes and brought them to the bathroom. Anton thanked him, before asking Liam to make a cup of sweet green tea, which he went to do immediately. 

Anton arrived in the kitchen as Liam was looking for cookies in the cupboards. He placed the cookie jar on the table, next to the tea and went to take a quick shower to rinse away all the worries of the day and getting blood flow back to his feet.

Finally, they both got to the bedroom. Liam made Anton lay down in bed and wrapped him in the fuzzy blanket before placing a soft kiss on his forehead and getting next to him in bed, spooning him over the fuzzy blanket. 

“You’re finally home.” he whispered in Anton’s ear.

“Home. Yeah. I love you, Liam, you know that?”

“I love you too, Anton.”

Morning came sooner than Liam anticipated. When he woke up, Anton had disappeared, which made his heart go into overdrive until he heard dishes falling in the kitchen, and the clock showed 10. He got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, where Anton was limping around with a hot, heavy pan with pancakes on it, trying to get them out on the plate. Liam walked over to him and took the pan him, telling Anton to sit down, to what Anton answered with a theatrical pout. Liam laughed. It felt like everything was alright and there wasn’t a band of murderous maniacs after them.

They had breakfast as usual, cracking jokes and flirting with each other, keeping it light. But while washing the dishes, Anton finally turned the subject to the serious matters at hand.

“So, do you have a plan?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Lay it on me, then.”

“First, we need to find this girl. Her name is Bella. She worked at Kiwi, before we took the place apart.”

“You did what?”

“My friend was helping me find you and he got into a huge gun fight with the whole club. It wasn’t pretty. He’s dead now, and the girl was his secret girlfriend, as far as I understood. She helped us spy on Harold, and got in trouble for it. I rescued her, and I told her to go the police, but I’m not so sure she actually went. We would have heard about it.”

“Where would you even look for her?”

“That is a very good question. She has my clothes with her, so-”

“She has what?”Anton stared right at him, the pan in hand, dripping with soap water. Liam raised his hands in defence.

“She was barely wearing anything when I got her out of there. Do you really blame me for not letting her run around the town naked?”

“I was just wondering about the circumstances.”

“I’m gay, man. You should know that.” 

“Okay, okay.” Anton laughed, resuming scrubbing the pan.

“Since it was a brothel too, I would assume she went to the red street of this town. That’s where I’ll go and look.”

“Oh dear, we just got back together, and now you’re already running to sex workers. Is my wounded foot that much of a distraction?” Anton laughed. Liam sighed, rolling his eyes.

“After that, we need to find Niall and convince him to join us. He might be harder to sway, he was eager to join this damn cult that Ben started.”

“By the way, what’s up with the human sacrifice?”

“Don’t ask. I think he is clinically insane. Either way, I’ll text Niall from a burner phone today, asking to meet as soon as he can.”

“Burner phone? Really?”

“Anton, I kill for a living. You better be happy there isn’t a vault underneath our bed filled to the brim with weapons.”

Anton just nodded, putting the pan away. Liam got up and went to get dressed, taking his gun with him and hiding it underneath his shirt. He told Anton to stay put and not unlock the door or go near the windows, and only open the door if Liam calls him and says so. Anton mumbled something about being jailed once again, but Liam didn’t pay attention to that. Anton always liked to pretend he wasn’t happy with something. This was all for his own safety and he knew that.


	16. 14

Usually people didn’t hang around the red-light district in the mornings, so the women working there were sealed away in their brothels, cleaning and getting ready for their daily duties. The glass windows facing the street were covered in curtains, red neon signs turned off. Only a few women were out on the street, dressed in short skirts and cheap-looking, fuzzy jackets that didn’t even cover their shoulders properly. Some were talking and smoking, some were simply standing in the doorway of their respective brothels, waiting for a lone client to show up on the street. 

When they saw Liam, they extinguished their cigarettes and shot him sly smiles, trying to entice him and win him over. He tensed slightly - he didn’t like this kind of attention from anyone who wasn’t Anton. He took a deep breath and prepared to disappoint all the women that were hoping to get some money out of him.

He walked over to the one lone woman, who was standing in the doorway of her brothel. She looked like she could be about 40, her face coated heavily in make up.

“What’s it going to be, sweet thing?” she asked, smirking at Liam. The stench of hard alcohol came out of her mouth, and Liam wasn’t exactly sure if he even wanted to ask her anything. A month ago acting heartless and cold wouldn’t have been a problem for him, but recent events had shaken him up, and now that he had Anton back, he wanted to be an honest man.

“I’m looking for someone.” he said, and immediately the woman’s face dropped, her voice losing it’s enticing tone as she scoffed at him.

“Who?”

“Her name is Bella.”

“We don’t have any Bella’s in our establishment.” 

“Perhaps you know of the other ones then? Short, red hair, young, probably showed up here a couple days ago?”

“Does it look like I care for the young ones? If you haven’t noticed,” she pointed at the sign above the door.

“Cougar Den.” Liam read out loud.

“You better look elsewhere.” she said, disappearing into the building and shutting the door behind him.

He turned away from the building and walked over to the other side, where two younger women had been smoking earlier.

“100 pounds for a hour if you want a full course.” one of them said in the most business like tone ever.

“You overprice them, Amy,” the other laughed, before turning to Liam, “20 quid for a blowjob from me.”

“I’m not here for that.” Liam stated, making the duo raise their eyebrows. “I’m looking for someone. Name’s Bella, probably showed up here a couple days ago, red hair, short… Seen her or heard anything about her?”

The two looked at him, full of suspicion. They knew something. Were they jealous because they thought he was her client? Or were they protecting her?

“Why do you need her?”

“I just need to talk to her. Do you know where she is?”

“Perhaps.”

Liam took out his wallet and got out two 50 pound bills and handed them to the women, who took them without hesitation. 

“What’s your name?” the one named Amy asked.

“Liam. What’s it to you?”

“Look at Sailor’s Choice, down the street. That’s where all the new ones start at before they get assigned to other places. If nobody there can tell you about her, then she’s not here.”

Liam nodded and began to walk away. He could hear the two talking quietly behind his back. About thirty seconds later he could hear the sound of high heels on the pavement nearing him at a fast pace. Someone grabbed his arm.

“Huh?”

“You better not be here to do her harm. You aren’t the first one to be looking for her.”

“So you do know her!” Liam said. “If you are trying to protect her, then why did you tell me so easily where to look for her?”

“She told us about someone with the same name as you. You saved her, or something?”

“You could say that.”

“Sailor’s Choice. If she’s not there, then she’s not here at all.”

Liam stood there for a moment, and then he pulled out a score out of his wallet, muttering a quiet ‘thanks’ before running to the end of the street, trying to spot a sign that would point him to the right place.

It was at the end of the street. An old, wooden building, with a path behind it that led in the direction of the old harbour. Liam wasn’t big on history, but he guessed this could have been where the whole red-light street began a century or two ago. 

He knocked on the door and pushed it. It was locked. He cursed to himself, before knocking on it a few more times. No answer. Stepping back, he noticed that the curtains on the second floor window moved. There was definitely someone there. He decided to wait until someone came outside to ask him what he wanted.

The air was crisp and cool, and a slight breeze was blowing, not letting Liam light his smoke with the first try. He looked up at the sky - grey clouds everywhere, covering the sun, yet the light was still hard on the eyes. Perhaps it would snow soon? 

He thought about the winter evenings he would spend cuddling with Anton and drinking mulled wine, gifting each other ugly Christmas sweaters and Anton teaching him about Hanukkah, ice skating and having snow fights. Those would be great days. Soon, soon.

The door unlocked and a small gap opened. The face of an old, bearded man showed in the gap.

“What do you want?” the man barked at Liam.

“I’m looking for a girl named Bella.”

Something fell behind the door.

“Don’t know anything about her.”

Liam sighed and pulled out another 20 pounds and handed them to the man.

“Why do you need her?”

“I just need to talk.”

“Why? Who told you she’s here?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

The man snorted. Liam was starting to get impatient. He just wanted to talk to her, he didn’t mean to do her any harm. This was taking too much time. 

Suddenly he heard something slam on the other side of the building. He glanced at the path next to the building and saw a short, red-haired person running away. The person was wearing his jacket. Bella. 

“Stop!” he yelled, throwing his cigarette away and dashing after her, barely escaping the old man’s attempt to grab his hand. He ran into the pathway and followed the silhouette down the path that led into a bushy area where drug addicts and homeless people hung around. 

The ground was littered with garbage and old syringes, and Liam had to watch his step to not trip over and land on one of the needles. He jumped over a log, keeping his eyes on the woman running in front of him.

“Bella! Stop!”

The woman didn’t look back, ducking underneath a partially fallen tree and taking a left into the bushes. Liam shook his head. She was going to hurt herself like this. Or break her neck in the worst case. He needed her alive.

He followed her, being slowed down by the tightly growing bushes. Breaking through with his bare hands wasn’t a pleasurable process, sharp twigs tearing small wounds in his hands and a few thin branches whipping him in the face. He heard a yelp somewhere in front of him, causing him to breathe out a ‘No!’ as he lifted up a branch and dashed forward.

Bella was lying on the ground, her left ankle twisted in a strange angle. She had tripped over a stump, and it hadn’t went too well.

“For fuck’s sake, stop running, Bella! It’s me, Liam!”

She slowly turned around, brushing dirt off her face and looking at Liam, a bit sheepish and embarrassed.

“I thought you were one of Harold’s goons again. They were looking for me yesterday, but…”

“I understand that you have friends here.”

“Even whores can have friends.”

“I don’t doubt that. Listen, I want you to come with me. I have a plan on how none of us will have to fear Harold anymore.”

“And what is it?”

“I assume you didn’t go to the police like I told you.”

Bella laughed. The thought of a prostitute trying to get the police to protect her was ridiculous, wasn’t it?

“Of course not.”

“I want you to come with me. They’ll give you a new identity and move you somewhere else.”

“I’ll still be a whore though. Doesn’t matter where or under whom.”

Liam sighed. He felt a bit of an obligation to help her, since Charlie had claimed to love her, but then again he did seem bitter about it the last time they spoke…

“Who was Charlie to you?”

“What does he have to do with this? He’s dead anyways.”

“Just tell me. It’s important.”

“Knew him since high school. Hooked up a couple of times, apparently he was in love with me.”

“And you?”

“I mean, he was nice and all and a good fuck, but do you think a prostitute has time for love?”

“I would guess no.”

“That’s the end of it. I once did tell him that he can come to me if he’s willing to pay at least partially so I can keep a cover up, but I denied his romantic advances.”

Liam nodded. No words of Charlie promising to get her out of this lifestyle. He stood there for a moment, thinking.

“Will you agree to go to the police with me if I pay for your lawyer? We will make a case against Harold for illegal sex work, you could get money out of him, start a new life while he rots away in prison.”

She sat there quietly for a moment, thinking. Liam waited patiently, hoping for a positive answer. He wasn’t concerned about his own financial status, he was sure he’d win the case against Ben, he’d spin it in a way that made it seem like he did everything that Ben told him to against his will… And that man had so much money Liam and Anton could retire right then and there. So, he might as well start his new life with a good deed.

“Yeah. Alright. But if this doesn’t work, it’s on you.”

“Deal?” 

“Deal.”

“Let me help you out of here, we need to take a look at your foot. I’ll bring you to my apartment and you will wait there until I return. Then we will all go to the police.”

“Sounds like a plan.”


	17. 15

They returned to Liam’s apartment, where Liam left Bella under Anton’s supervision. While Anton took care of Bella’s foot, Liam went into their bathroom and dug out an old phone, one of those bricks that everyone had in 2003, and texted Niall, asking him to meet at a cafe near the club Anton worked in. Liam wanted to trust Niall. He really did want to believe there was no prejudice about Liam having a boyfriend, but seeing how keen on joining Ben’s cult he had been and how he’d done absolutely nothing, not even sending Liam a message about Anton being in the forest, he wasn’t sure if he could trust the man he used to call his best friend. So he picked a public place to meet, where it would be foolish to try to assault Liam. If Niall was on his side, he’d understand the caution.

  
Niall texted him back after a while, agreeing to meet in half an hour. Liam left Anton and Bella to their own devices. Before walking out of the house, he returned and grabbed his gun, just for safety measures. He felt bad about the fact that he couldn’t trust Niall. They went back a long way, even before Liam had joined the gang. Now that Liam thought about it, he felt bad that he was the reason Niall was even a criminal. Driving in the car, he thought over the last few days. It was funny how everything he stood for changed so fast. Yes, he had been doubting Ben’s excessive love for violence for a while now, but he didn’t think that it would take just a few days for him to completely abandon the man he had pledged his life to years ago. But it was the right thing to do.

  
He parked his car by the club and walked to the cafe. It was a nice little place, cozy and ordinary. There were teenagers sitting around one of the tables, playing a card game and chatting about homework. A university student was sitting in the depths of the cafe, books piled around her and a pile of papers next to her. She looked frustrated. A small girl and her father were sitting by the book case, the man reading out a storybook to his daughter, who was looking up at him with loving eyes and giggling at his voice acting. It was idyllic, and anyone would have to be a madman to create a scene here.

  
Liam ordered a cup of coffee with cream on top and sat in the back of the cafe, a few tables away from the university student. Soon, Niall came in. Liam hadn’t seen him for a couple days, but there was something different about his friend. There was a worried expression on his face, dark under-eye circles had appeared, and his hands were fidgeting. Niall greeted him, raising his hand to wave. The wound from the knife cut looked awful, like it hadn’t been cleaned properly. After going to the police, Liam had to get Niall to go to the hospital to check it out, to escape Niall having to lose his hand to infection.

  
“Hey Liam,” he said, sitting down and folding his hands, his thumbs twiddling.

“Hey. Tell me, what’s going on?”

  
“It’s a hornet’s nest there. Ben is absolutely pissed at you, he knows it was you in the forest last night. He’s convinced you’ve betrayed him completely, and now he’s got everyone against you, and Harold’s goons are working with him too, so it surprises me that you’re still here.”

  
“Speaking of yesterday...Anton told me you saw and heard his name being said out loud. You knew who he was. And you didn’t even text me. You told me you’d help.”

  
“Liam,” Niall defended himself, “do you really think I could have just pulled my phone out right then and there, in front of Ben? He’d immediately know what was going on, and I would end up in the coffin next to him.”

  
“Understandable.” Liam said, nodding. Still, he it stung a little that Niall hadn’t tried to help. He knew Liam would have appreciated it. But, that was then and it didn’t matter much anymore.

  
“Why did you call me here?” Niall asked, looking around, mostly glancing at the door and then looking back at Liam. “Ben is convinced I’m out doing errands and I can’t hang around public places much, especially not with you if I want to keep my head.”

  
“I came to apologize to you, and to offer you a new life.”

“What are you talking about? Apologies?”

“I should have never pulled you into this two years ago. I should have kept my mouth shut about this gang, you should have stayed an honest man. Not this.”

  
“Liam, we were best friends. And we still are, don’t get me wrong. But it would have hurt much more if I would have heard that you’re in jail or dead one day, and then this gang thing would have been uncovered. Plus, this hasn’t been the worst thing in my life. I’m doing fine doing errands for Ben. Of course, I don’t really feel up to murdering anyone, and I don’t think I ever will, but…”

  
“How long do you think you can stay with him? With every year Ben gets more and more crazy. I mean, this cult? He’s completely gone insane.”

  
Niall just stared at him. Liam stared back.

  
“I wouldn’t quite use the word insane…” Niall said slowly.

“Really, Niall? You’re buying into this cult nonsense? Gods? Human sacrifice? Rituals?”

  
“Nevermind all that,” Niall waved his hand to brush away the topic. “What’s that other thing you wanted to talk about?”

  
“I want you to help me get rid of Ben.”

  
Niall’s blue eyes widened, and he sat there in shock. Liam hurried to explain.

  
“I don’t mean to kill him, no. We go to the police, we demand blanket immunity in return for information. We go to court, join the witness protection program. Sue him for big money, and when he goes to jail, we just move away and start a new life. I’ve earned enough money in my time through Ben to be able to afford us lawyers. Niall, I need your voice in this.”

  
“Liam, I…I don’t know.” Niall started, shaking his head.

  
“Come on. We can actually do this. All you have to do right now is get in my car, we go pick up Anton and a girl that helped us out, and we go to the police station. I will handle all the talking and the law part.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“I’ve read enough law books on this topic to be sure enough.”

“And what will you do if I don’t agree?”

“There is nothing to fear, Niall. We can overthrow Ben and be done with this life.”

“That’s not what I’m asking you. I’m asking you - what will you do if I don’t agree?”

  
Liam sighed in frustration.

  
“If you’re worried about me killing you, don’t. I’ll just let you go. But afterwards blame yourself, when you’ll end up in jail.”

  
“You’ll just...betray everyone? Just like that?”

  
“Is anyone there actually a good person? I know I’m not. I want to change that, and if betraying everyone means to be a good person, then I’ll do it. Plus, it’s not like they’re all incapable of handling themselves.”

  
Then Liam decided to try a different tactic. Appeal to Niall’s deepest wishes, show him that there was a whole another life he could be living.  
“Niall. What would you be doing if you weren’t in the gang?”

  
“I...Probably uni, study mythology and history. Why are you asking?”

  
“Don’t you want to do that? I’m giving you an opportunity here to live a better life, don’t you understand?” Liam’s voice raised in volume at the end of the sentence, and Niall had to shush him. Liam apologized to the university student who was giving them a dirty look.

  
“I do.”

  
“Come with me, then.”

  
Niall looked at Liam, letting out a shaky breath. Then he nodded, and a warm wave of relief washed over him as he smiled at his friend.

  
“Let me just go to the bathroom and we’ll be on our way.” Niall said, getting up and hurrying to the restroom. Liam nodded and called after him that he would be waiting in the car. Walking out, he happily threw a 10 pound banknote on the counter as a tip. There was a spring in his step as he walked to the car, texting Anton to get ready. The end was almost there. Freedom, here they come.


	18. 16

They drove back to Liam’s place, picked up Anton and Bella, who Liam found chatting away about recent events and getting on quite well. Anton had made lunch, and feeling good about the future, Liam invited Niall in to have a meal. Niall cautiously agreed and they all sat around the table, eating mashed potatoes and making a toast to a better future with glasses of water. Anton cracked a joke or two, and Liam felt good about everything. Once this was over, perhaps they would all stay in touch, meet again from time to time and have a chat. Even with Bella, who Liam guessed was a nice person under the hard exterior that life as a prostitute had forced on her.

  
Then they all got into the car. Liam turned on the radio and rolled down the window on his side, driving down to the police office. It was on the other side of town, and it would take them a good 15 minutes to get there.

Liam heard a noise. “Huh?”

  
“Can you stop somewhere? I feel ill. Lunch isn’t sitting very well,” Niall said.

  
“Alright.”

  
They stopped in a gas station and Niall stumbled inside. Liam tapped his fingers against the car wheel, getting slightly impatient. His friend didn’t make him wait for long though, he returned with a bottle of vodka, which made Liam raise his eyebrows.

  
“What’s that for?”

“For celebration, later. I might have to pass though, if this stomach bug keeps on, but at least for you…”

  
“Okay, okay. Get back in.”

  
They began driving again, but five minutes barely passed, when Niall was asking him to stop again.

  
“Are you okay?” Anton began to ask as Liam slowed down, but Bella let out a high pitched scream, making the driver hit the brakes.

  
“Don’t stop, it’s a trap!”

  
“Wha-” Niall nervously laughed, as Liam glanced out of the window. They were standing near the Kiwi.

  
“Niall…” Liam turned to him, but he froze halfway through his sentence. Niall was holding Bella in a chokehold, a knife to her throat as he dragged her out of the car.

  
“Not a motion, Liam, or she gets it.”

  
“Niall, what are you doing?”

  
“You’re a traitor, Liam.”

  
Anton pushed Liam, making him look in the front window. Ben was standing in the doorway of the Kiwi, staring right at him. There was a gun in his hand, pointed at the car.

  
“Get out!” Liam screamed, pushing Anton out of the way and ducking, as a bullet shattered the windshield. He rolled out on the ground and looked for his gun. His holster was empty.

  
“Fuck.” He had left it at home. Or in the car. Didn’t matter. He couldn’t see where Anton had gone, but Niall was standing by the car with Bella struggling in his grip, his own expression being somewhere between fear and disgust.

  
Ben hadn’t moved from his spot. He stared at Liam, his eyes bloodshot and full of anger. He was pointing his gun at Liam, who slowly stood up, raising his hands in the level of his head. Ben nodded with a slight smile, approving of Liam’s movements. He walked closer to him, close enough that Liam could see his yellow eyes glowing with anger.

  
“So, we’re hanging around sluts now, aren’t we?” Ben asked, his voice as charming as ever, as if he was having a conversation over a cup of coffee.

  
“And we are betraying our masters now, aren’t we? We’re trying to lead his faithful servants away from the light, aren’t we? We get valued men killed, don’t we?” he continued, taking a step closer to Liam, who didn’t even dare to breathe.

  
“You’re pathetic, Liam. You know, I used to think you could take over after I’d retire. You were the star of our clan, you were the promised champion that I’d seen in my dreams. Oh, I had so many things planned for you. If only you hadn’t turned out to be such a snake.”

  
Ben’s fingers jerked on the trigger, making Liam squint for a moment, causing Ben to laugh.

  
“No, no, it won’t be as easy as you think. I’m not going to let you just die. No, first I’ll tell you all about the things you’ve done wrong. “

  
“Can you just cut to the chase?” Liam asked, getting annoyed. It wasn’t the smartest thing, to aggravate Ben even more right now, but Liam was angry at the world, at Niall, at Ben. They weren’t going to take this away from him.

  
“I hear you have a boyfriend. Scum of the earth you are.”

“Who cares who I sleep with? It’s none of your business.”

  
“I’ll flay your little boyfriend, I’ll have his skin pulled over his eyes while he’s still alive.”

  
“No, you won’t.” Liam said, jumping forward and grabbing Ben’s arm, twisting it and pushing Ben to the ground. Ben yelled something out, but Liam didn’t care. He grabbed the gun, and without needless ceremonies, shot the man in the back of his head.

  
Then he turned to Niall, who was staring at him, wide eyed.

  
“Niall, let her go. Put down the knife and let her go.”

  
“I’m getting tired of being a hostage!” Bella mumbled, trying to hit Niall where the sun didn’t shine. She succeeded, making Niall yelp out and grab his crotch, letting her go. Then she punched him in the face, and Liam could hear a loud crack.

  
Liam was about to go over and give Niall a few kicks from himself, when, for the second time in those ten minutes, Bella screamed. She was pointing to the alleyway behind the club.

  
Liam was having a deja vu. Two men with covered faces, yellow swords on their jackets and Taylor standing in the middle. Anton - on his knees in front of her, facing Liam. One of the men had long hair that were pulled up in a bun, Liam was sure it was Harold.

  
Liam raised up his gun, and so did the two men behind Taylor, while she kept her gun on Anton’s head. Anton was staring at the ground, not daring to move. Liam could see tears streaming down his boyfriend’s cheeks, and his own vision blurred.

  
It was just like the nightmare. Taylor’s twisted grin, the revolver… The men turned Anton sideways, so Liam would have a clear view, Taylor stood in front of his boyfriend, put the revolver in his mouth and pulled the trigger. With the blast, Liam’s heart shattered.

  
Everything else was a blur. He could hear the police sirens, the gunshots and the loudspeakers, he felt the wind in his hair and he the warmth of Anton’s body slipping away underneath his fingertips. He couldn’t look at Anton’s face, truth be told, there wasn’t much to look at anymore. He just held his boyfriend’s hand until someone dragged him away.


	19. Epilogue

It was a dark winter’s evening when the car stopped by the cemetery. A man climbed out, wearing a long, black coat and a fedora to match. A long, black beard covered his face. His eyes were dark brown and they lacked any emotion. Leather gloves on, he held a bouquet of white roses in his hands.  
He walked in the snowed in graveyard, his pace slow and steady. For a while he wandered aimlessly around the place, not knowing where to go. The graveyard caretaker approached the man.

  
“Good evening, sir. Are you looking for something?” the caretaker, a man in his fifties, asked.

  
The man stared at him. Then, he asked something peculiar.

“Could you take off your gloves?”

  
The caretaker did as asked. There was a faded scar on the inside of his palm. The other man’s eyes were pinned to that for a whole minute, making the caretaker uncomfortable.

  
“Are you looking for something?” he repeated his question, making the man snap out of his strange state.

  
“Zaslavski. I’m looking for Anton Zaslavski.” the man answered, and the caretaker froze up. He quickly put on his gloves, and waved off in the general direction of the church, before hurrying away, goosebumps running over his back.

  
The man ignored him and walked towards the church. After a bit of wandering he found what he was looking for. A small, simple gravestone of black marble with the name Anton Zaslavski etched into it was hiding under the snow. The man placed the white roses on the grave and took off his hat, putting it to his heart, revealing black hair with gray streaks in it.

  
He stood there, quietly staring at the gravestone. The wind picked up, swirling the soft snow in the air like dandelion fluff, covering the man in it. When the wind calmed down, the man wasn’t there anymore. Just white roses, left for dead in the freezing winter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end.


End file.
